Opioid Withdrawal Abruptly Disrupts Amygdala Circuit Function by Reducing Peptide Actions

Abstract

While the physical signs of opioid withdrawal are most readily observable, withdrawal insidiously drives relapse, and contributes to compulsive drug use, by disrupting brain emotional learning circuits. How these circuits become disrupted during withdrawal is poorly understood. Because amygdala neurons mediate relapse, and are highly opioid-sensitive, we hypothesised that opioid withdrawal would induce adaptations in these neurons, opening a window of disrupted emotional learning circuit function. Under normal physiological conditions, synaptic transmission between the basolateral amygdala (BLA) and the neighbouring main island (Im) of GABAergic intercalated cells (ITCs) is strongly inhibited by endogenous opioids. Using patch-clamp electrophysiology in brain slices prepared from male rats, we reveal that opioid withdrawal abruptly reduces the ability of these peptides to inhibit neurotransmission – a direct consequence of a protein kinase A-driven increase in the synaptic activity of peptidases. Reduced peptide control of neurotransmission in the amygdala shifts the excitatory/inhibitory balance of inputs onto accumbens-projecting amygdala cells involved in relapse. These findings provide novel insights into how peptidases control synaptic activity within the amygdala and presents restoration of endogenous peptide activity during withdrawal as a viable option to mitigate withdrawal-induced disruptions in emotional learning circuits and rescue the relapse behaviours exhibited during opioid withdrawal and beyond into abstinence.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT:We find that opioid withdrawal dials down inhibitory neuropeptide activity in the amygdala. This disrupts both GABAergic and glutamatergic transmission through amygdala circuits, including reward-related outputs to the nucleus accumbens. This likely disrupts peptide-dependent emotional learning processes in the amygdala during withdrawal and may direct behaviour towards compulsive drug use.

Shared Mechanisms of GABAergic and Opioidergic Transmission Regulate Corticolimbic Reward Systems and Cognitive Aspects of Motivational Behaviors

“…Accordingly, the activation of MORs in the ITCs takes part in reward salience. In rats, opiate withdrawal reduces the feedforward inhibition by the ITCs in the BLA and strengthens the inputs of the BLA, projecting neurons to the NAc and changing the reward system [256]. GABAergic inhibitory neurons expressing MORs in the lateral paracapsular part of the BLA exert feedforward inhibition on the excitatory pyramidal neurons, contributing to anxiety-like behavior and stress-induced drug seeking [143].…”