Brain scans could predict who will relapse on opioids, study suggests
Researchers identified brain connectivity patterns that predict how intensely individuals crave opioids during abstinence—a major driver of relapse. The findings could enable treatment providers to identify high-risk patients early and tailor interventions, potentially reducing the estimated $180 billion annual cost of opioid addiction in the US.
Originaltitel: Predicting individual incubation of opioid craving by whole- brain functional connectivity
Forskargrupp från National Institute of Drug Abuse har utvecklat en hjärnkartemetod som kan förutsäga individuella skillnader i opiodberoendets återfallsrisk. Med hjälp av funktionell MRI och kopplingsprediktion identifierade forskarna ett helt-hjärn-kopplingsmönster som speglar hur opioidsuget ökar under abstinens hos möss. Studien visar att förändringar i funktionell konnektivitet under abstinens — särskilt minskad koppling mellan frontal-, striatal-, insula- och hippocampala områden — korrelerar med återfallsbenägenhet. Pharmacological inaktivering av dorsomedial striatum minskade sökandebeendet signifikant och stärktes kopplingen i det prediktiva nätverket, vilket bekräftar mekanismen. Forskningen involverar Linköpings universitet och taiwanesiska institutioner. Resultaten möjliggör personaliserad övervakning av behandlingseffekt och identifiering av nya interventionspunkter för opiodberoendepatienter.
<p>A high risk of relapse triggered by craving during abstinence remains a main challenge in opioid addiction treatment. Multiple brain regions have been implicated in opioid craving, but the brain-wide neural mechanisms underlying this process remain poorly understood. Using resting-state fMRI and connectome-based predictive modeling, we identified a whole-brain connectome that predicted the time-dependent increases (incubation) in oxycodone craving in individual rats after voluntary abstinence induced by exposure to an electric barrier. Incubation of oxycodone craving was operationally defined as the increase in nonreinforced lever pressing during relapse tests from early (day 1) to late (day 15) abstinence (incubation score). We found that changes in whole-brain functional connectivity during abstinence, but not during oxycodone self-administration, predicted the incubation score. Greater decreases in functional connectivity were associated with higher incubation scores. The predictive connectome involved complex interactions across multiple brain systems, including frontal-striatal, frontal-insula, insula-striatal, and hippocampal and sensorimotor circuits. To test causality of the predictive connectome, we examined the effect of pharmacological inactivation of dorsomedial striatum (DMS), which significantly decreased oxycodone seeking after electric barrier-induced abstinence. DMS inactivation increased connectivity strength within the predictive connectome, supporting a causal role of this connectome in incubation of oxycodone craving. The predictive connectome did not predict food-reward seeking after electric barrier-induced abstinence, indicating specificity to oxycodone craving. Our findings identify a brain-wide connectome marker that predicts individual differences in the incubation of opioid craving and provide potential targets for developing personalized interventions and monitoring therapeutic outcomes in opioid addiction treatment.</p>