QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

HOME  |   SEARCH  |   ARCHIVE  |   SUBSCRIBE  |   CONTACT  |   HELP

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit an eLetter Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (18) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Van Bockstaele, E. J. Articles by Drolet, G. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Van Bockstaele, E. J. Articles by Drolet, G.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

The Journal of Neuroscience, December 1, 2000, 20(23):8659-8666

Decreases in Endogenous Opioid Peptides in the Rat Medullo-Coerulear Pathway after Chronic Morphine Treatment

Elisabeth J. Van Bockstaele¹, James Peoples¹, A. Sue Menko¹, Kirk McHugh¹, and Guy Drolet²

¹ Thomas Jefferson University, Department of Pathology, Anatomy and Cell Biology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107, and ² CHUL Research Centre, Neuroscience Unit and Faculté de Médecine, Université Laval, Québec, Canada G1V4G2

Several biochemical changes have been described in noradrenergic neurons of the locus coeruleus (LC) after chronic morphine treatment. Changes in neurochemical expression in opioid afferent projections to the LC may be equally important in modulating noradrenergic neurons during chronic opiate exposure. To test the hypothesis that opioid peptides in LC afferents are altered after chronic opiate administration, we exposed adult male rats to either morphine or placebo pellets for 5 d. Tissue sections through the LC were processed for peroxidase or gold-silver labeling of methionine⁵-enkephalin (met-ENK) and analyzed using light or electron microscopy, respectively. Light level densitometry and ultrastructural analysis showed that there was a significant decrease in immunolabeling for ENK in LC-afferent terminals of morphine-treated rats. Western immunoblot analysis confirmed that protein levels for both leucine⁵- and methionine⁵-ENK were significantly decreased in tissue samples containing the LC after chronic morphine treatment. To test whether decreases in ENK protein expression were mirrored by decreases in gene expression, Northern blot analysis of preproenkephalin (PPE) mRNA was conducted in tissue samples obtained through the medulla, a brainstem area that contains the major opioid afferents to the LC. PPE mRNA was reduced in samples obtained from morphine-treated rats. Finally, in situ hybridization experiments confirmed significant decreases in PPE mRNA expression in the nucleus paragigantocellularis, a region known to provide a robust opioid input to the LC. These data suggest that there is a decrease in the synthesis of the opioid peptide mRNA and protein in the medullo-coerulear pathway after chronic exposure to morphine. Such alterations in opioid peptide levels during opiate dependence may contribute to the observed hyperactivity of LC neurons during opiate withdrawal.

Key words: opioid; noradrenaline; morphine; arousal; enkephalin; opiate withdrawal

---

Copyright © 2000 Society for Neuroscience  0270-6474/00/20238659-08$05.00/0

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. Le Merrer, J. A. J. Becker, K. Befort, and B. L. Kieffer Reward Processing by the Opioid System in the Brain Physiol Rev, October 1, 2009; 89(4): 1379 - 1412. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				Y.-J. Li, F. Zhong, P. Yu, J.-S. Han, C.-L. Cui, and L.-Z. Wu Electroacupuncture Treatment Normalized Sleep Disturbance in Morphine Withdrawal Rats Evid. Based Complement. Altern. Med., September 4, 2009; (2009) nep133v1. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. M. Nieto, J. Wilson, A. Cupo, B. P. Roques, and F. Noble Chronic Morphine Treatment Modulates the Extracellular Levels of Endogenous Enkephalins in Rat Brain Structures Involved in Opiate Dependence: A Microdialysis Study J. Neurosci., February 1, 2002; 22(3): 1034 - 1041. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home  |   Search  |   Archive  |   Subscribe  |   Contact  |   Help