Developmental and Serotonin 5-HT2A Receptor Effects on Fentanyl Reinforcer Value - PROJECT SUMMARY
Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), chronic stress, and isolation increase the odds of misusing opioids. In
treatment-seeking people with opioid use disorder, exposure to more types of childhood trauma was inversely
correlated with age at opioid initiation. Thus, people with ACEs begin misusing opioids earlier than people without
ACEs. Current medications for opioid use disorder (MOUDs) significantly reduce overdose and instances of
relapse. However, MOUDs are not sufficient. The number of synthetic opioid overdose deaths continues to rise
and instances of OUD are climbing, illustrating the serious public health burden. Alternative medications that
have unique non-opioid mechanisms of action could increase recovery and mitigate the abuse potential of
prescription opioids. The serotonin (5-HT) system is richly expressed in many areas that modulate opioid reward
and is dynamically altered by stress and adverse experiences. The 5-HT system and the receptors that transduce
the signal are densely expressed in the mesocorticolimbic regions in human and rodent brains and modulate
reinforcement learning. Specifically, the 5-HT2A and 5-HT2C receptors (5-HT2AR and 5-HT2CR) seem to have
opposing effects within the mesocorticolimbic pathway and areas of the mPFC. However, new preliminary data
from our research group identifies that a preferential 5-HT2AR partial agonist, 2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodoamphetamine
(DOI) reduces the reinforcing value of oxycodone in a novel, translationally relevant model of fentanyl self-
administration. The ongoing opioid crisis calls for novel treatment strategies and innovative approaches to
address the opioid epidemic. Furthermore, there is a critical need to determine how ACEs and chronic stress
alter the rewarding aspects of synthetic opioids like fentanyl. Elucidating the neurobiological mechanisms that
are altered during development and have downstream effects on opioid reinforcement helps to predict or identify
at-risk groups who are more vulnerable to OUD. This application seeks support to investigate these mechanisms
to ultimately reveal a novel and innovative neuropharmacological mechanism and identify a non-opioid receptor
target to control opioid reinforcement. This project has the potential to strengthen the research environment at
the University of Nebraska at Omaha by recruiting and exposing undergraduate students to translationally
relevant models of OUD. In addition, the undergraduate students will be incorporated into all aspects of the
proposed research projects to deliver a truly experiential training opportunity that fosters independent growth
and professional development. Students engaged in this project will communicate their research projects through
conference presentations and publications. At the end of this project, our primarily undergraduate research team
will have determined the therapeutic utility of the 5-HT2AR in fentanyl reinforcement, characterized the expression
of 5-HT2AR expression in the rodent brain, and determined the extent to which the medial prefrontal cortex
encodes fentanyl value and each student will have acquired necessary neuroscience-related skills that will surely
be attractive to graduate programs to which they will apply.
