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HUMAN STUDY: FOSB proteins in the orbitofrontal and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices of human alcoholics
Author(s) -
Watanabe Hiroyuki,
Henriksson Richard,
Ohnishi Yoshinori N.,
Ohnishi Yoko H.,
Harper Clive,
Sheedy Donna,
Garrick Therese,
Nyberg Fred,
Nestler Eric J.,
Bakalkin Georgy,
Yakovleva Tatjana
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
addiction biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.445
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1369-1600
pISSN - 1355-6215
DOI - 10.1111/j.1369-1600.2009.00155.x
Subject(s) - fosb , orbitofrontal cortex , dorsolateral prefrontal cortex , addiction , psychology , neuroscience , prefrontal cortex , context (archaeology) , transcription factor , biology , cognition , gene , genetics , paleontology
The transcription factor ΔFosB is accumulated in the addiction circuitry, including the orbitofrontal and medial prefrontal cortices of rodents chronically exposed to ethanol or other drugs of abuse, and has been suggested to play a direct role in addiction maintenance. To address this hypothesis in the context of substance dependence in humans, we compared the immunoreactivities of FOSB proteins in the orbitofrontal and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices (OFC and DLPFC respectively) between controls and alcoholics using semiquantitative immunoblotting. In both structures, we detected three forms of FOSB, one of which was ΔFOSB, but in neither case did their immunoreactivities differ between the groups. Our results indicate that the ΔFOSB immunoreactivity in the human brain is very low, and that it is not accumulated in the OFC and DLPFC of human alcoholics, suggesting that it may not be directly involved in addiction maintenance, at least not in ethanol dependence.