# The impact of early life opioid exposure on the molecular and functional trajectories of septal cell types

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · 2023 · $798,591

## Abstract

Project Summary
The use of opioids by pregnant women has increased in recent years, especially the abuse of fentanyl in the US.
Opioids increase the risk of pregnancy loss and stillbirth and can cause neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome
(NOWS) in infants, leading to cognitive and behavioral risks in children and adults. However, the neural basis of
these deficits is not understood. Animal models suggest that behavioral and cognitive deficits from prenatal
opioid exposure are directly caused by persistent opioid exposure, but the cellular and molecular basis of these
deficits are largely unknown. The septal complex plays a critical role in addiction, drug-seeking, and stress
related behaviors, but it is unclear how specific septal neural cell types contribute to opioid-induced
neuroadaptations. It is also unknown if neurodevelopment is a sensitive period where drug-induced changes can
become permanent or what cell types and molecular programs are induced by opioid exposure and addictive
states in the developing and adult brain. Using scalable complementary cellular and molecular approaches our
study will characterize the developmental trajectories and adaptations of neural cell types in the septal complex
in a mouse model of early life opioid exposure and withdrawal to address these gaps in knowledge. Our studies
will provide a comprehensive catalogue of the cellular, circuit and molecular adaptations that occur in the
developing septal complex after fentanyl exposure and determine the key septal cell types that mediate circuit
and behavioral adaptations that occur with early life opioid exposure.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10775154
- **Project number:** 1R01DA059388-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO
- **Principal Investigator:** COREY C HARWELL
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $798,591
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2023-09-30 → 2028-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10775154

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10775154, The impact of early life opioid exposure on the molecular and functional trajectories of septal cell types (1R01DA059388-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10775154. Licensed CC0.

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