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Selective serotonin re‐uptake inhibitors potentiate gene blunting induced by repeated methylphenidate treatment: Zif268 versus Homer1a

There is a growing use of psychostimulants, such as methylphenidate (Ritalin; dopamine re‐uptake inhibitor), for medical treatments and as cognitive enhancers in the healthy. Methylphenidate is known to produce some addiction‐related gene regulation. Recent findings in animal models show that selective serotonin re‐uptake inhibitors (SSRIs), including fluoxetine, can potentiate acute induction of gene expression by methylphenidate, thus indicating an acute facilitatory role for serotonin in dopamine‐induced gene regulation. We investigated whether repeated exposure to fluoxetine, in conjunction with methylphenidate, in adolescent rats facilitated a gene regulation effect well established for repeated exposure to illicit psychostimulants such as cocaine—blunting (repression) of gene inducibility. We measured, by in situ hybridization histochemistry, the effects of a 5‐day repeated treatment with methylphenidate (5 mg/kg), fluoxetine (5 mg/kg) or a combination on the inducibility (by cocaine) of neuroplasticity‐related genes (Zif268, Homer1a) in the striatum. Repeated methylphenidate treatment alone produced minimal gene blunting, while fluoxetine alone had no effect. In contrast, fluoxetine added to methylphenidate robustly potentiated methylphenidate‐induced blunting for both genes. This potentiation was widespread throughout the striatum, but was most robust in the lateral, sensorimotor striatum, thus mimicking cocaine effects. For illicit psychostimulants, blunting of gene expression is considered part of the molecular basis of addiction. Our results thus suggest that SSRIs, such as fluoxetine, may increase the addiction liability of methylphenidate.