et al., 2008). Similarly, systemically administered OXT decreased methamphetamine-induced activation of the NAc and STN (Carson et al., 2010b). In support of these findings, direct infusion of OXT into the NAc or STN attenuated the development of methamphetamine-induced conditioned place preference (CPP) (Baracz et al., 2012). Viral-mediated overexpression of OXTRs in the NAc reduced alcohol-induced CPP and alcohol consumption in mice (Bahi, 2015, Bahi et al., 2016). Moreover, alcohol-induced elevation of dopamine release within the NAc was blocked by OXT administration (icv.), and this inhibition was associated with a reduction in alcohol preference and consumption in rats (Peters et al., 2017). Additionally, recent studies have characterized the presence of OXT/dopamine heteroreceptor complexes (OXTR/D2R) within the NAc and central amygdala, where OXTR activation was shown to increase D2 receptor signaling (de la Mora et al., 2016, Fuxe et al., 2012, Romero-Fernandez et al., 2013). Interestingly, the D2 receptor subtype is downregulated following chronic drug exposure and activation of DR2 has been shown to reduce drug-seeking behavior (Volkow and Morales, 2015). Thus, OXT, serving as an allosteric agonist to increase D2R affinity in the NAc, may reduce drug-seeking behavior.
