Cited by 75Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on BehaviorNeuroscience and Neuropharmacology ResearchSubstance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes

D-Serine and D-Cycloserine Reduce Compulsive Alcohol Intake in Rats

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Seif, Taban, Simms, Jeffrey A, Lei, Kelly, Wegner, Scott, Bonci, Antonello, Messing, Robert O, Hopf, F Woodward·2015·Neuropsychopharmacology

Abstract

There is considerable interest in NMDAR modulators to enhance memory and treat neuropsychiatric disorders such as addiction, depression, and schizophrenia. D-serine and D-cycloserine, the NMDAR activators at the glycine site, are of particular interest because they have been used in humans without serious adverse effects. Interestingly, D-serine also inhibits some NMDARs active at hyperpolarized potentials (HA-NMDARs), and we previously found that HA-NMDARs within the nucleus accumbens core (NAcore) are critical for promoting compulsion-like alcohol drinking, where rats consume alcohol despite pairing with an aversive stimulus such as quinine, a paradigm considered to model compulsive aspects of human alcohol use disorders (AUDs). Here, we examined the impact of D-serine and D-cycloserine on this aversion-resistant alcohol intake (that persists despite adulteration with quinine) and consumption of quinine-free alcohol. Systemic D-serine reduced aversion-resistant alcohol drinking, without altering consumption of quinine-free alcohol or saccharin with or without quinine. Importantly, D-serine within the NAcore but not the dorsolateral striatum also selectively reduced aversion-resistant alcohol drinking. In addition, D-serine inhibited EPSCs evoked at -70 mV in vitro by optogenetic stimulation of mPFC-NAcore terminals in alcohol-drinking rats, similar to reported effects of the NMDAR blocker AP5. Further, D-serine preexposure occluded AP5 inhibition of mPFC-evoked EPSCs, suggesting that D-serine reduced EPSCs by inhibiting HA-NMDARs. Systemic D-cycloserine also selectively reduced intake of quinine-adulterated alcohol, and D-cycloserine inhibited NAcore HA-NMDARs in vitro. Our results indicate that HA-NMDAR modulators can reduce aversion-resistant alcohol drinking, and support testing of D-serine and D-cycloserine as immediately accessible, FDA-approved drugs to treat AUDs.

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  • D-serine treatment can reduce compulsive alcohol intake and D-serine participates in mechanisms of morphine addiction, suggesting a role for altered D-serine signaling in the establishment of addictive behavior at large.

    “Furthermore, the fact that D-serine treatment can reduce compulsive alcohol intake 124 and that D-serine participates in the mechanisms of morphine addiction 125 suggests a role for altered D-serine signaling in the establishment of addictive behavior at large.”

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Authors
Seif, T., Simms, J. A., Lei, K., Wegner, S., Bonci, A., Messing, R. O., & Hopf, F. W.
Affiliations
  • University of California, San Francisco (US)
  • National Institutes of Health (US)
Venue
Neuropsychopharmacology
Published
2015-03-24
Volume
40
Issue
10
Pages
2357-2367
ISSN
  • 0893-133X (ISSN-L)
  • 1740-634X
OpenAlex
W2016812451
Cited by
75
References
62
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 10 · 2015: 3
FWCI
4.02
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Neuropsychopharmacology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • University of California, San Francisco
  • National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (P50AA017072, R21AA021445)
  • National Institute on Drug Abuse (F32DA028065)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
Keywords
D-serine, D-cycloserine, alcoholism, nucleus accumbens core, dorsolateral striatum, medial prefrontal cortex, NMDA receptor modulators, synaptic transmission
MeSH terms
Alcohol Drinking, Ethanol, Animals, Compulsive Behavior, Cycloserine, Hippocampus, Male, Saccharin, Serine, Valine, Rats, Wistar, Prefrontal Cortex, Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists, Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials, Rats, In Vitro Techniques

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