Systemic administration of a delta opioid receptor agonist,KNT-127, facilitates extinction learning of fear memory in rats |
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Authors: | Azusa Sugiyama Misa Yamada Hiroki Furuie Leo Gotoh Akiyoshi Saitoh Hiroshi Nagase Jun-Ichiro Oka Mitsuhiko Yamada |
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Institution: | 1. Department of Neuropsychopharmacology, National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, 4-1-1 Ogawahigashimachi, Kodaira, Tokyo 187-8553, Japan;2. Laboratory of Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tokyo University of Science, Chiba 278-8510, Japan;3. International Institute for Integrative Sleep Medicine (WPI-IIIS), University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8575, Japan |
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Abstract: | Strategies to facilitate extinction of fear memory have attracted increasing attention for enhancing the effectiveness of exposure therapy for anxiety disorders. Previously, we demonstrated that systemic administration of a delta opioid receptor agonist, KNT-127, has clear anxiolytic-like effects in rats, without impairing memory. These observations led us to hypothesize that KNT-127 might be an appropriate therapeutic agent for anxiety disorders when combined with exposure therapy. In the present study, we demonstrate that KNT-127 (3 mg/kg) facilitates extinction learning of fear memory using the contextual fear conditioning test. As expected, a partial agonist at the glycine-binding site on the glutamatergic N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor, d-cycloserine (15 mg/kg), facilitated extinction learning of contextual fear in rats. In contrast, a benzodiazepine anxiolytic, diazepam (1 mg/kg), impaired the fear extinction learning. Interestingly, the facilitatory effect of KNT-127 on extinction learning was observed not only after a 10-min re-exposure, but also after a much shorter (2-min) re-exposure to the context, while d-cycloserine was ineffective at facilitating extinction when a short-duration exposure was given. Our findings may suggest that administration of a delta opioid receptor agonist might have therapeutic efficacy when combined with exposure therapy for treating a range of anxiety disorders. |
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Keywords: | KNT-127 Exposure therapy Fear extinction Contextual fear conditioning |
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