Persistent vulnerability to heroin relapse across the adult lifespan in rats
Relapse to opioid use during abstinence is often triggered by drug-associated cues but the persistence of this effect across the lifespan is unknown. Using a rat model, we found that relapse provoked by heroin-predictive discriminative stimuli persisted for over one year of abstinence, suggesting enduring, potentially lifelong opioid relapse vulnerability.
Authors
- Rajtarun Madangopal (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6202-302X)
- Andrew Holmes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7406-4387)
- Diana Q. Pham
- Veronica A. Lennon (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2113-0528)
- Bruce T. Hope (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5804-7061)
- Sophia J. Weber (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0845-7385)
- Olivia R. Drake (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6656-1650)
- J. Jack Lee (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5469-9214)
- Omodolapo Nurudeen
- Adekemi Sobukunola
- Yavin Shaham
Institutions
- National Institute on Drug Abuse (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
- Published
- 2026-03-20
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.03.18.712140
- Primary Topic
- Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00