Examining opioid withdrawal scoring and adaptation of global scoring systems to male and female C57BL/6J mice

Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) is a chronic and relapsing psychiatric condition which is currently the leading cause of accidental death in the US. Symptoms of acute opioid withdrawal resemble a flu-like illness which is accompanied by a dysphoric state. Psychological comorbidities such as anxiety, depression, and disordered sleep can persist for months or years, well into the abstinence period. These symptoms are thought to drive further opioid intake in order to alleviate this unpleasant internal state. Many differences in OUD have been documented between male and female patients, with females at higher risk for relapse and overdose. This study sets out to characterize sex differences in symptoms and behavioral adaptations in mice during early withdrawal. Using our moderate dose, three-day precipitated withdrawal paradigm, we discovered significant effects of sex, time, and drug treatment on early withdrawal behaviors, locomotor activity, and gut motility in C57BL/6J mice. Here I will discuss previous methods of condensing behavioral phenotypes into one global withdrawal score, and propose a new methodology. This method increases the ability to detect nuanced effects and allows for more accurate translation across strain, sex, paradigm, and experimental context. Classification of opioid withdrawal-induced behavioral adaptations will allow for improved behavioral analysis of pharmacological manipulations, and investigations of brain circuitry involved in opioid withdrawal, as well as future screening of compounds with potential therapeutic benefit for the treatment of OUD.