The effects of chronic cocaine use on D3 receptor mRNA expression in the human nucleus accumbens was assessed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. D3 receptor/cyclophilin mRNA ratios in the nucleus accumbens were increased 6-fold in cocaine overdose victims as compared to age-matched and drug-free control subjects. This finding demonstrates that chronic cocaine exposure leads to adaptive increases in the expression of D3 receptor mRNA in a critical reward center in brain.
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Segal et al. (1997) studied this question.
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