The Cocaine and Oxycodone Biobanks, Two Repositories from Genetically Diverse and Behaviorally Characterized Rats for the Study of Addiction

Abstract

Substance use disorders are pervasive in our society and have substantial personal and socio-economical costs. A critical hurdle in identifying biomarkers and novel targets for medication development is the lack of resources for obtaining biological samples with a detailed behavioral characterization of substance use disorder. Moreover, it is nearly impossible to find longitudinal samples. As part of two ongoing large-scale behavioral genetic studies in heterogeneous stock (HS) rats, we have created two preclinical biobanks using well-validated long access models of intravenous cocaine and oxycodone self-administration and comprehensive characterization of addiction-related behaviors. The genetic diversity in HS rats mimics diversity in the human population and includes individuals that are vulnerable or resilient to compulsive-like responding for cocaine or oxycodone. Longitudinal samples are collected throughout the experiment, before exposure to the drug, during intoxication, acute withdrawal, and protracted abstinence, and include naive, age-matched controls. Samples include, but are not limited to, blood plasma, feces and urine, whole brains, brain slices and punches, kidney, liver, spleen, ovary, testis, and adrenal glands. Three preservation methods (fixed in formaldehyde, snap-frozen, or cryopreserved) are used to facilitate diverse downstream applications such as proteomics, metabolomics, transcriptomics, epigenomics, microbiomics, neuroanatomy, biomarker discovery, and other cellular and molecular approaches. To date, >20,000 samples have been collected from over 1000 unique animals and made available free of charge to non-profit institutions through https://www.cocainebiobank.org/ and https://www.oxycodonebiobank.org/SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTThe cocaine and oxycodone biobanks offer genetically and behaviorally characterized, longitudinally, and cross-sectionally diverse samples to researchers free of charge. Through this resource, we want to make these valuable samples available to researchers who may not have the equipment or expertise to perform behavioral experiments but can make valuable contributions to the addiction field and facilitate the identification of biomarkers and the development of novel, effective therapies for substance use disorders.