TY - JOUR
T1 - Exploring the role of orexins in the modulation of social reward
AU - Amaral, Inês M
AU - Ouaidat, Sara
AU - Scheffauer, Laura
AU - Granza, Anna E
AU - Monteiro, Diogo G
AU - Salti, Ahmad
AU - Hofer, Alex
AU - El Rawas, Rana
N1 - © 2024. The Author(s).
PY - 2025/2
Y1 - 2025/2
N2 - RATIONALE: positive social interactions are essential for mental health, by offering emotional support, reducing stress levels, and promoting resilience against drugs of abuse effects. However, not all individuals perceive social interaction as rewarding.OBJECTIVES: the goal of this study was to investigate whether the modulation of the orexin system can shift passive coping and non-social behavior (vulnerable) to active coping and social behavior (resilient). This knowledge is primordial for stress- and addiction-related disorders, and for other psychiatric disorders involving impairment in social interaction.METHODS: male C57/BL6N mice categorized into social and non-social groups, received injections of SB334867, a selective orexin 1 receptor (OX1R) antagonist, before the conditioning sessions with a male conspecific of the same weight and age.RESULTS: our results from the conditioned place preference test (CPP) show that SB334867 has no effect on social preference in non-social mice, but it reduces their stress levels and depression-like behavior. These effects appear to be due to a higher OX1R expression in the basolateral amygdala (BLA), a stress-related brain area, of non-social mice compared to their social counterparts.CONCLUSIONS: these data suggest that the orexin system may be a target to alleviate stress and depression-like behavior in non-social individuals rather than to promote social reward.
AB - RATIONALE: positive social interactions are essential for mental health, by offering emotional support, reducing stress levels, and promoting resilience against drugs of abuse effects. However, not all individuals perceive social interaction as rewarding.OBJECTIVES: the goal of this study was to investigate whether the modulation of the orexin system can shift passive coping and non-social behavior (vulnerable) to active coping and social behavior (resilient). This knowledge is primordial for stress- and addiction-related disorders, and for other psychiatric disorders involving impairment in social interaction.METHODS: male C57/BL6N mice categorized into social and non-social groups, received injections of SB334867, a selective orexin 1 receptor (OX1R) antagonist, before the conditioning sessions with a male conspecific of the same weight and age.RESULTS: our results from the conditioned place preference test (CPP) show that SB334867 has no effect on social preference in non-social mice, but it reduces their stress levels and depression-like behavior. These effects appear to be due to a higher OX1R expression in the basolateral amygdala (BLA), a stress-related brain area, of non-social mice compared to their social counterparts.CONCLUSIONS: these data suggest that the orexin system may be a target to alleviate stress and depression-like behavior in non-social individuals rather than to promote social reward.
KW - Animals
KW - Male
KW - Reward
KW - Naphthyridines/pharmacology
KW - Mice
KW - Orexins/metabolism
KW - Mice, Inbred C57BL
KW - Benzoxazoles/pharmacology
KW - Urea/analogs & derivatives
KW - Orexin Receptors/metabolism
KW - Orexin Receptor Antagonists/pharmacology
KW - Social Behavior
KW - Stress, Psychological/metabolism
KW - Adaptation, Psychological/physiology
KW - Basolateral Nuclear Complex/metabolism
KW - Behavior, Animal/drug effects
KW - Depression/metabolism
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85204534259
U2 - 10.1007/s00213-024-06688-5
DO - 10.1007/s00213-024-06688-5
M3 - Article
C2 - 39302438
SN - 0033-3158
VL - 242
SP - 401
EP - 412
JO - Psychopharmacology
JF - Psychopharmacology
IS - 2
ER -