Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29773910›Full record

ArticleNeuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology2018

The L-type calcium channel blocker, isradipine, attenuates cue-induced cocaine-seeking by enhancing dopaminergic activity in the ventral tegmental area to nucleus accumbens pathway.

Nii A Addy, Eric J Nunes, Shannon M Hughley, Keri M Small, Sarah J Baracz, Joshua L Haight, Anjali M Rajadhyaksha

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
25citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
1.8field-weighted citation impact, top 16% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

25 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 34 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Isradipine augmentation of virtual reality cue exposure therapy for tobacco craving: a triple-blind randomized controlled trial.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2024
    Trial
  3. Reinventing amlodipine.The Journal of pharmacology and experimental therapeutics · 2026
    Review
  4. Astrocytic abnormalities in brain-specificChannels (Austin, Tex.) · 2025
    Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Review
  12. CaNeuropharmacology · 2023
    Article
  13. Review
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. CaTranslational psychiatry · 2021
    Article
  19. Review
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Nii A AddyDepartment of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA. nii.addy@yale.edu.
Eric J NunesDepartment of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA.
Shannon M HughleyDepartment of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA.
Keri M SmallDepartment of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA.
Sarah J BaraczDepartment of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA.
Joshua L HaightDepartment of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA.
Anjali M RajadhyakshaDivision of Pediatric Neurology, Department of Pediatrics, Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University, New York, NY, 10065, USA.
Yale University · USCornell University · US

Funding

RESEARCH TRAINING - BIOLOGICAL SCIENCEST32MH014276 · NIMH · YALE UNIVERSITY · PI Marina R Picciotto · 1985 to 2026
$7.2M
The Role of Cav1.2 L-type Ca2+ Channels in Cocaine-Induced ReinstatementR01DA029122 · NIDA · WEILL MEDICAL COLL OF CORNELL UNIV · PI RAJADHYAKSHA, ANJALI M · 2012 to 2016
$2.1M
Yale Postbaccalaureate Research Education ProgramR25GM104553 · NIGMS · YALE UNIVERSITY · PI BENNETT, ANTON M, NEARON, MICHELLE · 2014 to 2017
$1.3M
CaV 1.3 L-type Calcium Channel Mechanisms in Cocaine SeekingR21DA038048 · NIDA · YALE UNIVERSITY · PI ADDY, NII A · 2014 to 2015
$472k
NIDA NIH HHS R01 DA029122NIDA NIH HHS R21 DA038048NIGMS NIH HHS R25 GM104553NIMH NIH HHS T32 MH014276
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Previous preclinical and clinical investigations have focused on the L-type calcium channel (LTCC) as a potential therapeutic target for substance abuse. While some clinical studies have examined the ability of LTCC blockers to alter cocaine's subjective effects, very few LTCC studies have examined cocaine relapse. Here, we examined whether ventral tegmental area (VTA)-specific or systemic administration of the LTCC inhibitor, isradipine, altered cocaine-seeking behavior in a rat model. Male Sprague-Dawley rats first received 10 days of cocaine self-administration training (2 h sessions), where active lever depression resulted in delivery of a ∼0.5 mg/kg cocaine infusion paired with a tone + light cue. Rats then underwent 10 days of forced abstinence, without access to cocaine or cocaine cues. Rats were then returned to the opertant chamber for the cue-induced cocaine-seeking test, where active lever depression in the original training context resulted in tone + light cue presentation. We found VTA specific or systemic isradipine administration robustly attenuated cocaine-seeking, without altering cocaine-taking nor natural reward seeking. Dopamine (DA) signaling in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) core is necessary and sufficient for cue-induced drug-seeking. Surprisingly in our study, isradipine enhanced tonic and phasic DA signaling in cocaine abstinent rats, with no change in sucrose abstinent nor naïve rats. Strikingly, isradipine's behavioral effects were dependent upon NAc core DA receptor activation. Together, our findings reveal a novel mechanism by which the FDA-approved drug, isradipine, could act to decrease cocaine relapse.

Indexed as

AnimalsCalcium Channel BlockersCalcium Channels, L-TypeCocaineCuesDopamineDrug-Seeking BehaviorIsradipineMaleNucleus AccumbensRatsRats, Sprague-DawleyVentral Tegmental AreaCalcium Channel BlockersCalcium Channels, L-TypeCocaineDopamineIsradipine

Identifiers

PMID29773910
PMCPMC6180103
OpenAlexW2800807405

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.