Relationship between two methamphetamine-induced behaviors in Drosophila melanogaster: self-administration and locomotor sensitization

Ovisnost o drogama definira se kao kompulzivno uzimanje droge s gubitkom kontrole u ograničavanju unosa. To je kompleksna bolest koju karakteriziraju različiti kognitivni, bihevioralni i fiziološki simptomi koji nastaju kao posljedica opetovane konzumacije droge. Zbog svoje kompleksnosti, ovisnost se u laboratoriju istražuje ispitivanjem jednostavnih ponašanja koja su karakteristična - npr. samoadministracija i lokomotorna senzitizacija. Za laboratorijska istraživanja neophodno je imati životinjske modele, a zbog genetičkih sličnosti između ljudi i životinja te brzog i jeftinog uzgoja, Drosophila melanogaster je vrlo često korišten životinjski model. Cilj našeg istraživanja bio je ispitati postoji li korelacija između dva oblika ponašanja karakteristična za ovisnost da bismo saznali postoje li dijelovi mozga koji zajednički utječu na njihovu regulaciju. Preferencijalna konzumacija droge je oblik ponašanja u kojem jedinke svjesno i aktivno biraju hranu s dodatkom droge naspram one bez droge, a lokomotornu senzitizaciju definiramo kao povećanu lokomotornu aktivnost nakon administracije droge. Preferencijalna konzumacija metamfetamina ispitivana je pokusom samoadministracije (FlyCafe metodom), a lokomotorna senzitizacija ispitivana je FlyBong metodom. Mušice aktivno preferiraju hranu s dodatkom metamfetamina, unatoč gorkom okusu te povećavaju lokomotornu aktivnost uslijed opetovane administracije metamfetamina. Rezultati ukazuju na to da postoji korelacija između ta dva oblika ponašanja, što otvara mogućnost novih istraživanja kako bi se ta korelacija bolje definirala i kako bi se potencijalno otkrili zajednički neuralni mehanizmi koji upravljaju tim ponašanjima.Drug addiction is defined as compulsive drug use with a loss of control in restricting intake. It is a complex disease characterized by various cognitive, behavioral and physiological symptoms that result from repeated drug use. Due to its complexity, addiction is explored in the laboratory by examining the simple behaviors that are characteristic - for example self – administration and locomotor senzitization. For laboratory research it is necessary to have animal models, and because of genetic similarities between humans and animals and also fast and cheap cultivation, Drosophila melanogaster is a very often used animal model. The goal of our study was to examine whether there is a correlation between two addictive behaviors to find out whether there are parts of brain that affect together on their regulation. Preferential drug consumption is a form of behavior in which species consciously and actively choose foods with drug additions versus those without drugs, and locomotor sensitization is increased locomotor activity after drug administration. The preferential consumption of methamphetamine was investigated by the self-administration experiment (FlyCafe method), and locomotor sensitization was investigated by the FlyBong method. Flies actively prefer methamphetamine-supplemented foods despite their bitter taste and increase locomotor activity due to repeated administration of methamphetamine. The results indicate that there is correlation between the two types of behaviors, which opens up the possibility of new research to better define this correlation and to potentially reveal common neural mechanisms that govern these behaviors