Betaxolol a selective β1-adrenergic receptor antagonist diminishes anxiety-like behavior during early withdrawal from chronic cocaine administration in rats

摘要

BackgroundAnxiety has been indicated as one of the main symptoms of the cocaine withdrawal syndrome in human addicts and severe anxiety during withdrawal may potentially contribute to relapse. As alterations in noradrenergic transmission in limbic areas underlie withdrawal symptomatology for many drugs of abuse, the present study sought to determine the effect of cocaine withdrawal on β-adrenergic receptor (β1 and β2) expression in the amygdala.