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

Abstract

A Combination of 0.3mg/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 previous studies proving that the KOR plays an important role in mediating relapse to polydrug dependence.

Keywords

polydrug, methamphetamine, kappa opioid receptor, relapse

How to Cite

Ridzwan, I. E., Suhaimi, M. S., Wasli, N. S., Kasmuri, A. R., Azzubaidi, M. S., Hashim, R., Ahmed, Q. U., Ming, L. C., Mohamed, N. & Syhami, S. M., (2018) “The distinct role of kappa opioid receptor in attenuating relapse to morphine/methamphetamine (polydrug) dependence in mice”, British Journal of Pharmacy 2(2). doi: https://doi.org/10.5920/bjpharm.2017.20

678

Views

211

Downloads

Share

Authors

Irna Elina Ridzwan
Maryam Saadah Suhaimi
Nur Syafinaz Wasli
Abdul Razak Kasmuri
Marwan Saad Azzubaidi
Ridzwan Hashim
Qamar Uddin Ahmed
Long Chiau Ming
Nornisah Mohamed
Syed Mohd Syhami

Download

Issue

Dates

Licence

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0

Identifiers

Peer Review

This article has been peer reviewed.

File Checksums (MD5)

  • : d85b804f92d3260df7a802964766aa16