sigma 1 Receptor-Related Neuroactive Steroids Modulate Cocaine-Induced Reward
jneurosci.org/cgi/content/full/23/9/3572
PDF: jneurosci.org/cgi/content/full/23/9/3572
Selected highlights:
"Cocaine is a major drug of abuse worldwide. It is a potent stimulant, exerting its effects primarily by its dopaminergic agonist activity on the mesocorticolimbic pathways.
It is widely accepted that the addictive and reinforcing actions of cocaine are the results of its ability to block the reuptake of dopamine (DA) and thereby to increase DA neurotransmission (Ritz et al., 1987)…"
"Finasteride is a selective inhibitor of the 5-reductase enzyme that converts progesterone to 5-pregnane-3,20-dione, the precursor of allopregnanolone (Trapani et al., 2002).
When mice were repeatedly treated with finasteride (25 mg/kg, s.c., twice a day during 6 d), they failed to acquire cocaine-induced conditioned place preference (CPP) (F(3,50) = 4.43; p < 0.01) (Fig. 2b).
Finasteride treatment was, however, devoid of effect alone. Finasteride administration resulted in a moderate accumulation of progesterone and in depletion of both 5-pregnane-3,20-dione and allopregnanolone levels (Trapani et al., 2002).
The blockade of cocaine-induced CPP by finasteride suggested that not only low levels of progesterone but also sustained levels of allopregnanolone are important for the establishment of cocaine-induced CPP".