Distinct role of kappa opioid receptor in attenuating relapse to morphine/methamphetamine (polydrug) dependence

A combination of 0.3 mg/kg buprenorphine and 1.0 mg/kg naltrexone treatment shows a promising result due to its ability to attenuate reinstatement (relapse) in morphine/methamphetamine (polydrug)-dependent mice in a conditioned place preference (CPP) model. This prompted us to identify which opioid...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ridzwan, Irna Elina, Suhaimi, Maryam Saadah, Wasli, Nur Syafinaz, Kasmuri, Abdul Razak, Azzubaidi, Marwan Saad, Hashim, Ridzwan, Ahmed, Qamar Uddin, Ming, Long Chiau, Mohamed, Nornisah, Syd Mohmad Faudzi, Syed Mohd Syahmi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Huddersfield Press 2017
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Online Access:http://irep.iium.edu.my/64949/
http://irep.iium.edu.my/64949/
http://irep.iium.edu.my/64949/
http://irep.iium.edu.my/64949/3/Article.pdf
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Summary:A combination of 0.3 mg/kg buprenorphine and 1.0 mg/kg naltrexone treatment shows a promising result due to its ability to attenuate reinstatement (relapse) in morphine/methamphetamine (polydrug)-dependent mice in a conditioned place preference (CPP) model. This prompted us to identify which opioid receptor that contributes to its anti-relapse activity. Using the same CPP model, 10 mg/kg nor-BNI (a selective kappa opioid receptor [KOR] antagonist) was used to evaluate the involvement of KOR in mediating relapse to polydrug dependence. By applying the immunohistochemistry (IHC) technique, the investigation was extended to the mice brain using KOR antibody (EPR18881), focusing on the brain regions that are abundant in KOR density. The results showed that nor-BNI alone failed to attenuate relapse to polydrug dependence. However, the IHC results proved that the number of KOR significantly increased in the striatum during reinstatement compared to post-conditioning (p <0.05). The KOR was significantly suppressed in the treatment group which strengthens the findings from the previous studies proving that the KOR plays an important role in mediating relapse to polydrug dependence.