European Journal of Neuroscience, Vol. 40, p. 3040, 2014

doi:10.1111/ejn.12726

NEUROSYSTEMS

COMMENTARY Pick your poison: not all opioids are created equal in the eyes of dopamine (Commentary on Vander Weele et al.) Dan P. Covey1 and Joseph F. Cheer1,2 1

Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 20 Penn Street, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA 2 Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 20 Penn Street, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA In the current issue, Vander Weele et al. (2014) provide a previously unseen characterization of opioid-induced potentiation of dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens (NAc), an effect shared by all commonly abused drugs and thought to critically contribute to drug reinforcement. This work is extremely timely as prescription opioid abuse and addiction are currently at epidemic levels. Indeed, the rise in prescription opioid abuse may be driven by an elevated prevalence of more addictive opioids. The most common opioid analgesic has traditionally been morphine, a naturally occurring alkaloid from the opium poppy plant. However, newer synthetic opioids, such as oxycodone, are gaining popularity despite (or perhaps because of) their reportedly greater abuse potential. The work by Vander Weele et al. (2014) suggests that the greater abuse potential of oxycodone may arise from its increased ability to produce changes in NAc dopamine release. Fast-scan cyclic voltammetry was used to measure real-time dopamine fluctuations in the NAc of behaving rats. These measures add opioids to the growing list of abused drugs (including ethanol, nicotine, cocaine and cannabinoids) that elicit rapid surges in NAc dopamine concentrations. Because these dopamine ‘transients’ are causally linked to reward seeking, the ability of abused drugs to give rise to these signals is an important mechanism supporting drug reinforcement. Interestingly, Vander Weele et al. (2014) found that morphine exhibits a surprisingly brief effect on dopamine transients, augmenting these signals for

Pick your poison: not all opioids are created equal in the eyes of dopamine (commentary on Vander Weele et al.).

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