According to an article from genomeweb.com, a zebrafish gene expression study has found indications that adult neuron formation may be involved in drug addiction.
The article states the study as this:
“Researchers from Germany and the Netherlands used microarrays to compare gene expression in the brains of normal and mutant zebrafish that had or had not been exposed to amphetamine. Following amphetamine exposure, they found 139 transcripts that were differentially expressed between wild type zebrafish and mutant fish that don’t respond to the drug.”
The study hopes to gain more information on what triggers addictive behavior.
“They assessed zebrafish drug response using an assay called the conditioned place preference, in which the fish change their location in a tank as a result of amphetamine use.”
The study is a step in changing the ideas of drug addiction, that is could be a response that is triggered in the brain. A new link between neurogenesis and addiction.
Here is another quote to further explain the study:
“By screening through zebrafish that had been exposed to a mutagenizing chemical called N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea, the researchers found a dominant mutation that renders zebrafish indifferent to amphetamine. They then used Agilent microarrays to compare the gene expression profile in this mutant, dubbed “no addiction”, with wild type zebrafish in the presence or absence of amphetamine.”
This study could be the first step in understanding why the brain becomes addicted to substances and therefore needs drug rehab.
