Fig. 1: Experiment 1: ERβ agonism in the BLA during cued extinction enhances heroin-cue EMR in a sex-specific manner.
A Experiment 1 timeline and cannula placements. B Daily ANPs during heroin self-administration in males and females. ANPs did not differ between the sexes. C Heroin intake (mg heroin/kg body weight) during self-administration. Females took more heroin than males (ME of sex). D Total ANPs during the 1 h cued extinction session. Treatment-matched post-hoc comparisons of males and females show that females had greater ANPs than males. However, ERβ agonism did not impact ANPs. E Quarterly ANPs during the cued extinction session. Veh and DPN treated groups were collapsed since DPN had no effect. At all timepoints, but particularly during the start of the session, females had greater ANPs than males (time x sex interaction). F Total ANPs during the 1 h EMR test. DPNpre and DPNpost females had lower ANPs relative to Veh and DPN4h females. Males ANPs did not change in response to DPN, but they were also lower than Veh and DPN4h females. G Difference scores comparing ANPs during extinction to ANPs during test. DPNpre and DPNpost females had decreased difference scores relative to all other groups. Difference scores in Veh and DPN4h females were not different from males. All data are shown as mean ± SEM; n = 6–7 rats/group; *p < 0.05, ****p < 0.0001, $p < 0.0001 versus Veh females, !p < 0.0002 versus DPN4h females. ANPs, active nose pokes; BLA, basolateral amygdala; DPN, diarylpropionitrile (ERβ agonist); EMR, extinction memory recall; FR, fixed ratio; INPs, inactive nose pokes; ME, main effect; Veh, vehicle.
