Person: Alén Fariñas, Francisco
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First Name
Francisco
Last Name
Alén Fariñas
Affiliation
Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Faculty / Institute
Odontología
Department
Psicobiología y Metodología en Ciencias del Comportamiento
Area
Psicobiología
Identifiers
3 results
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Item Increased plasma oleoylethanolamide and palmitoleoylethanolamide levels correlate with inflammatory changes in alcohol binge drinkers: the case of HMGB1 in women(Addiction biology, 2017) Antón, María; Rodríguez‐González, Alicia; Rodríguez Rojo, Inmaculada Concepción; Pastor, Antoni; Correas Marín, María De Los Ángeles; Serrano, Antonia; Ballesta, Antonio; Alén Fariñas, Francisco; Gómez De Heras, María Raquel; Torre, Rafael de la; Rodríguez De Fonseca, Fernando Antonio; Orio Ortiz, LauraAlcohol binge drinking is a heavy pattern of alcohol consumption increasingly used by young people. In a previous study, we reported that young drinkers with a 2‐year history of binge alcohol consumption had an overactivation of the innate immune system and peripheral inflammation when compared with controls. In the present study, we measured several biolipids that are fatty acid derivatives belonging to the acylethanolamide or 2‐acylglycerol families in the plasma of the same subjects (n = 42; 20 men and 22 women). We found that during abstinence, alcohol binge drinkers had elevated plasma levels of oleoylethanolamide, palmitoleoylethanolamide, arachidonoylethanolamide, dihomo‐γ‐linolenoyl ethanolamide and linoleoyl ethanolamide, which positively correlated with changes in the mRNA expression of key inflammatory markers in peripheral blood mononuclear cells, such as toll‐like receptors (TLR4), pro‐inflammatory cytokines/chemokines interleukin‐1 beta, interleukin‐6 and monocyte chemoattractant protein‐1, and cyclooxygenase‐2. Additionally, plasma oleoylethanolamide positively correlated with plasma levels of high mobility group box‐1, which is a danger‐associated molecular pattern and an endogenous TLR4 agonist, specifically in female alcohol binge drinkers. No changes were observed in 2‐acylglycerols in alcohol binge drinkers, although sex‐related differences in these bioactive lipids as well as in palmitoleoylethanolamide and docosatetraenoylethanolamide levels were detected. These results extend the previous clinical findings observed in patients diagnosed with long‐term alcohol use disorder to young users and suggest a prominent role for these lipids in the response to acute alcohol exposure.Item Rethinking the Use of Antidepressants to Treat Alcohol Use Disorders and Depression Comorbidity: The Role of Neurogenesis(Antidepressants - Preclinical, Clinical and Translational Aspects, 2019) Alén Fariñas, Francisco; Gómez De Heras, María Raquel; Orio Ortiz, Laura; Rodríguez De Fonseca, Fernando Antonio; Ballesta, AntonioPatients with alcohol use disorders (AUDs) are frequently treated with antidepressant drugs (ADs), but clinical evidence of their efficacy is contradictory. Considering that ADs are thought to produce their therapeutic effects partially by increasing hippocampal plasticity and neurogenesis (HN), and that both AUDs and depression share a potential for the disruption of these neuroplastic processes, one could reasonably wonder whether the poor efficacy of AD treatment could be explained by the inability of these drugs to exert their proper action in patients suffering from AUD or depression. In order to further clarify this question, this chapter aims to examine available data regarding the effect of ADs on behavioral and HN alterations related to alcohol abstinence, as a key period in which the treatment would be implemented and in which their potential effects on alcohol-related problems remain under controversy.Item Abrupt cessation of reboxetine along alcohol deprivation results in alcohol intake escalation after reinstatement of drinking(2020) Ballesta, Antonio; Arco, Rocío; Vadas, Evelyn; Decara, Juan; Vargas, Antonio; Ramírez‐López, Mayte; Serrano, Antonia; Suárez, Juan; Rodríguez De Fonseca, Fernando Antonio; Pavón Carrasco, Francisco Javier; Gómez De Heras, María Raquel; Orio Ortiz, Laura; Alén Fariñas, FranciscoAbstract Major depression (MD) is a frequent comorbidity in alcohol use disorder (AUD) patients. Antidepressant prescription is often limited by poor clinical outcomes or unwanted side effects in comorbid AUD‐MD patients. Recent studies suggest that abrupt cessation of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors antidepressant treatment increases alcohol consumption after an alcohol deprivation period in rats. However, the appearance of this effect after the treatment with selective noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) is not known. Here, we report that interruption of subchronic (14 days) treatment with the SNRIs reboxetine (15 mg/kg/day intraperitoneally) resulted in escalation of ethanol intake when the animals resume alcohol self‐administration. This effect of reboxetine treatment cessation was associated with a profound deactivation of the endocannabinoid/acylethanolamide signaling system in the prefrontal cortex but not in the dorsal hippocampus, as reflected by the decrease in the protein expression of the cannabinoid CB1 receptor, the PPARα receptor, the 2‐arachidonoylglycerol synthesizing enzymes DAGLα and DGALβ, and the endocanabinoid degrading enzyme MAGL. This was associated with dysregulation of the expression of glutamic acid receptors GluN1, GluA1, and mGlu5 in the medial prefrontal cortex and the dorsal hippocampus of the animals exposed to reboxetine. The present results further support the idea that abrupt cessation of antidepressant therapy along alcohol deprivation time can boost alcohol intake after relapse through mechanisms associated with endocannabinoid/glutamate signaling dysregulation. This finding might be relevant for patients suffering AUD/MD comorbidity where antidepressant therapy must be monitored with caution for avoiding unwanted side effects if adherence to the treatment is not fully achieved.