🤩Big thanks to:
@wickedneuro.bsky.social
@brainaddiction.bsky.social
@abepalmer.bsky.social
Lieselot Carrette
Leah Solberg Woods
@snehyanka
Lisa Maturin, Mackenzie Gamble
@Ben_in_vivo

👍Take home: Opioid-induced, sex-specific changes last into withdrawal and abstinence and may contribute to relapse risk, highlighting the SCN as a potential therapeutic target for opioid use disorder.

〰️Link to rhythmic genes: The highest proportion of sex-specific rhythmic genes emerged during abstinence, suggesting that chronic opioid exposure leads to long-lasting, sex-dependent disruptions to the brain’s internal clock, persisting well after drug use ends.

✨During abstinence, females continued to show lasting alterations in stress-related pathways, energy metabolism, and neurotransmission, whereas males exhibited persistent oxidative stress and ongoing changes in cell detoxification processes.

Key findings ⤵️
✨During intoxication and withdrawal, females showed disruptions in genes involved in synaptic signaling, circadian rhythms, and inflammation, while males exhibited activation of DNA damage and immune response pathways.

We performed RNAseq on the SCN from genetically diverse female and male rats during 4 key stages:
1⃣Naïve
2⃣Intoxication
3⃣Acute withdrawal
4⃣Prolonged abstinence
We also linked SCN molecular changes to addiction-like behaviors.

Opioid Use Disorder is a global crisis.
〰️Chronic use worsens sleep/circadian rhythms, which can elevate cravings, negative affect, and relapse risk.
🧠The SCN drives daily rhythms, but how opioids alter its molecular machinery is unknown.

Congratulations!!:)