Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Xiaoyan Wei, Jiasong Chang, Zhen Cheng, Wenwen Chen, Hao Guo, Zhaoyu Liu, Yuning Mai, Tao Hu, Yuanyuan Zhang, Qinglong Cai, Feifei Ge, Yu Fan, Xiaowei Guan
Summary: Adolescent cocaine abuse increases the risk of addiction in adulthood. A study on mice found that DUSP1 expression was lower in the medial prefrontal cortex of adolescent cocaine-exposed (ACE) mice during adulthood, leading to higher sensitivity to the drug. Regulating neuron activity through DUSP1 might be a potential pharmacological target for predicting and treating susceptibility to addictive drugs caused by adolescent substance use.
Article
Neurosciences
Alessia Mastrodonato, Ina Pavlova, Noelle Kee, Josephine C. McGowan, J. John Mann, Christine A. Denny
Summary: (R,S)-ketamine reduced behavioral despair and perseverative behavior in adolescent female mice, facilitated contextual fear discrimination in both sexes at specific doses, and did not show effectiveness in aged mice. Sex- and age-specific approaches are needed to test the efficacy of (R,S)-ketamine.
FRONTIERS IN NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Biology
Roshan Prakash Rane, Evert Ferdinand de Man, JiHoon Kim, Kai Goergen, Mira Tschorn, Michael A. Rapp, Tobias Banaschewski, Arun L. W. Bokde, Sylvane Desrivieres, Herta Flor, Antoine Grigis, Hugh Garavan, Penny A. Gowland, Ruediger Bruehl, Jean-Luc Martinot, Marie-Laure Paillere Martinot, Eric Artiges, Frauke Nees, Dimitri Papadopoulos Orfanos, Herve Lemaitre, Tomas Paus, Luise Poustka, Juliane Froehner, Lauren Robinson, Michael N. Smolka, Jeanne Winterer, Robert Whelan, Gunter Schumann, Henrik Walter, Andreas Heinz, Kerstin Ritter, Saad Jbabdi
Summary: This longitudinal machine learning study demonstrates that alcohol misuse during adolescence can be significantly predicted from brain structure. Binge drinking was the most predictable behavior, with specific brain regions and structures playing important roles in the prediction. The choice of predicted phenotype, ML model, and confound correction technique were crucial in the explorative ML study, highlighting the importance of these decisions in analyzing psychiatric disorders with small effect sizes such as adolescence alcohol misuse.
Article
Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems
Judith G. Regensteiner, Jane E. B. Reusch
Summary: It has been long recognized that there are significant differences between the sexes in terms of prevalence, incidence, and severity of various diseases. However, research on women's health in the past mainly focused on diseases related to fertility and reproduction, leading to the exclusion of women from most clinical trials. As a result, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of serious chronic diseases like cardiovascular disease in women are mostly based on findings from studies conducted on men, resulting in a lack of sex-specific clinical guidelines.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF CARDIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Peter Manza, Ehsan Shokri-Kojori, Corinde E. Wiers, Danielle Kroll, Dana Feldman, Katherine McPherson, Erin Biesecker, Evan Dennis, Allison Johnson, Andrew Kelleher, Song Qu, Dardo Tomasi, Gene-Jack Wang, Nora D. Volkow
Summary: Females compared to males showed stronger drug effects and greater dopamine release in the ventral striatum after both oral and intravenous methylphenidate administration. The greater dopamine increases in the ventral but not dorsal striatum in females compared to males suggest an enhanced sensitivity specific to the dopamine reward system, which may underlie sex differences in vulnerability to substance use disorders and ADHD.
MOLECULAR PSYCHIATRY
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Brooke N. Bender, Mary M. Torregrossa
Summary: Intermittent access (IntA) models have been developed to mimic human cocaine use and have been shown to enhance pharmacological and behavioral effects of cocaine. This study examined sex differences and cue extinction in the IntA model. Results showed that IntA increased motivation for cocaine in females and facilitated punished cocaine self-administration in males. Additionally, after 10 days of IntA training, drug-seeking was dependent on DLS dopamine in males. These findings suggest that IntA is valuable for studying sex differences and early stages of drug use.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
James N. Brundage, Colin P. Mason, Hillary A. Wadsworth, Chris S. Finuf, Josh J. Nelson, P. Joakim W. Ronstrom, Sara R. Jones, Cody A. Siciliano, Scott C. Steffensen, Jordan T. Yorgason
Summary: Striatal dopamine release dynamics differ across sexes, with female mice showing less regional differences in dopamine release compared to male mice. Blocking voltage-gated K+ channels with 4-aminopyridine had the greatest effects in ventral regions of female mice, indicating regional differences in Kv channel expression. The dopamine transporter blocker cocaine enhanced detection across subregions in both sexes, with females showing greater overall increased release than males.
JOURNAL OF NEUROCHEMISTRY
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Lauren M. DePoy, Darius D. Becker-Krail, Wei Zong, Kaitlyn Petersen, Neha M. Shah, Jessica H. Brandon, Alyssa M. Miguelino, George C. Tseng, Ryan W. Logan, Colleen A. McClung
Summary: The circadian transcription factor NPAS2 plays a significant role in substance use disorder, affecting reward mechanisms and activity in a sex and time-specific manner. Npas2 mutant mice show increased cocaine self-administration and reinforcement during the dark phase, with females demonstrating a more pronounced increase.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Medicine, Research & Experimental
Camila B. Vidigal, Kawane F. Moura, Tiago J. Costa, Lorena Borges, Pedro M. M. Figaro, Ingrid C. Pinto, Fabio G. de Andrade, Daniela C. C. Gerardin, Rubia Casagrande, Rita C. Tostes, Maria do Carmo Franco, Graziela S. Ceravolo
Summary: This study found that treatment with TPM during childhood leads to altered aortic reactivity in adult male and female rats. The mechanism underlying the vascular effects of TPM is sex-specific.
Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Qianwen Zhang, Mingxi Li, Zhiru Wang, Fujun Chen
Summary: This study found that female rats took longer to master the principles of both regular and reversal Go/NoGo tasks in the later stages of learning, indicating a more cautious approach. Both male and female rats developed Go-preference strategies during the training, but the retired male rats exhibited shorter reaction times and movement times compared to retired female rats after adopting the Go-preference strategy.
BIOLOGY OF SEX DIFFERENCES
(2023)
Article
Neurosciences
Antoniette M. Maldonado-Devincci, Joseph G. Makdisi, Andrea M. Hill, Renee C. Waters, Nzia I. Hall, Mariah J. Shobande, Anjali Kumari
Summary: This study investigated the long-term impact of binge ethanol exposure during adolescence in male and female mice. Results showed a sexually divergent shift in ethanol consumption, with male adolescent mice increasing their consumption after abstinence, while female mice decreased their consumption.
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Melissa C. Knouse, Lisa A. Briand
Summary: Females exhibit stronger behavioral responses than males to drugs like cocaine and opioids, possibly driven by ovarian hormones. While there are overlapping neural mechanisms underlying cocaine and opioid abuse, they have divergent effects on synaptic plasticity. This suggests that behavioral sex differences in substance use disorder may be driven by different mechanisms depending on the drug class.
NEUROSCIENCE AND BIOBEHAVIORAL REVIEWS
(2021)
Article
Psychology, Multidisciplinary
Sandra S. Feijoo, James O'Higgins-Norman, Mairead Foody, Rafael Pichel, Teresa Brana, Jesus Varela, Antonio Rial
Summary: The study found no differences in cyberbullying rates between boys and girls, with more bully-victims among boys in cases of bullying. Differences were found in specific bullying behaviors, but they were discrete, discouraging the use of clearly differentiated preventive strategies for boys and girls.
PSYCHOSOCIAL INTERVENTION
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Bianca Caroline Bobotis, Olivia Braniff, Makenna Gargus, Elizabeth Toyin Akinluyi, Ifeoluwa Oluleke Awogbindin, Marie-Eve Tremblay
Summary: Microglia, the central nervous system innate immune cells, play a critical role in maintaining a homeostatic environment in the brain throughout life. They can exhibit variations in genetic and physical traits influenced by factors such as age, environment, disease, and sex. Microglia express receptors for sex hormones and are impacted by sex-chromosomal factors.
BRAIN RESEARCH BULLETIN
(2023)
Review
Urology & Nephrology
Franck Mauvais-Jarvis
Summary: Metabolic homeostasis operates differently in men and women. Women have evolved more efficient mechanisms than men to conserve energy and resist loss of energy stores and proteins in times of food scarcity or prolonged exercise. Female reliance on lipid oxidation helps to preserve glucose for neuronal and placental functions, while male reliance on carbohydrates may be related to defense and hunting activities. The larger subcutaneous adipose tissue depots in healthy women provide a mechanism for long-term lipid storage and starvation resistance. Female mitochondria have higher functional capacity and resistance to oxidative damage, reducing the risk of metabolic disorders. However, mechanisms of starvation resistance and propensity to obesity have evolved in tandem in women, resulting in a higher prevalence of obesity compared to men. Genetic sex, developmental programming by testosterone, and pubertal sex hormones contribute to sex-specific differences in energy homeostasis, metabolic disease, and drug responses.
NATURE REVIEWS NEPHROLOGY
(2023)