Up-regulation of dopamine D2 receptor mRNA in rat striatum by chronic neuroleptic treatment.

The effect of prolonged administration of antagonists on rat striatal dopamine D2 receptor binding and mRNA content was examined. Both haloperidol (2 and 4 mg/kg) and sulpiride (10 mg/kg) induced a significant rise in total D2 and D2(444) mRNA level and in Bmax. Regulation of messenger RNA accumulation is thus an important determinant of dopamine D2 receptor density.     

Enkephalin levels decrease in rat striatum during morphine abstinence

Male Sprague-Dawley rats were treated with morphine for 11 days. Saline-injected animals served as controls. The striatal enkephalin levels were measured with a radioimmunoassay 2, 24 and 48 h after withdrawal. There was no change 2 hafter the last morphine injection, but a marked reduction after 24 h and a slight decrease after 48 h. No decrease in enkephalin levels was found 12 and 24 after a single dose of 20 mg/kg morphine.     

Tolerance and withdrawal to chronic morphine treatment in the week-old rat pup.

Chronic treatment of adult animals with morphine results in tolerance but there are fewer reports on the effects of chronic opiates during ontogeny. The present experiments assessed the development of morphine-induced tolerance and withdrawal in infant rats. Pups were injected with morphine twice daily from ages 1-7 days and then tested on day 7 for morphine-induced analgesia in a hot-water immersion test, and separation-induced ultrasonic vocalizations in response to isolation from the dam and littermates at 7 and 10 days of age. Tolerance occurred to the analgesic effects of morphine but not to its suppression of ultrasonic vocalizations. Separation-induced vocalizations were greatly increased in chronic morphine-treated pups following naltrexone-precipitated withdrawal at 7 days of age. The increase in ultrasonic vocalizations following naltrexone treatment in morphine exposed pups may be a developmentally unique sign of opiate withdrawal.     

Effect of chronic morphine treatment on beta-endorphin biosynthesis by the rat neurointermediate lobe

The effect of chronic morphine treatment on the in vitro biosynthesis of beta-endorphin by rat pars intermedia was investigated. Tolerance and physical dependence were induced in 200 g rats by the subcutaneous implantation of 75 mg morphine pellets for either 3 days or 15 days. Immediately following sacrifice of the animals the neurointermediate lobes were removed and incubated with [3H] phenylalanine. The protein extracts of the lobes were analyzed for the incorporation of the labelled amino acid into total protein, pro-opiomelanocortin, beta-lipotropin (beta-LPH) and beta-endorphin. the biosynthesized products were purified by immunoprecipitation with an antiserum to beta-endorphin. The identity and purity of beta-endorphin were verified by polyacrylamide disc gel electrophoresis with sodium dodecyl sulfate, and microsequencing. The identity of pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) was verified by peptide mapping of its tryptic digestion products. The results showed that morphine treatment induced a decrease in the incorporation of the radioactive amino acid into total protein, pro-opiomelanocortin, beta-LPH and beta-endorphin. The decrease was more pronounced for the incorporation into beta-LPH and beta-endorphin than into pro-opiomelanocortin and total proteins, suggesting an effect of morphine treatment on the processing of the pro-opiomelanocortin to its final maturation products.     

Enhancement of morphine withdrawal signs in the rat after chronic treatment with naloxone

Chronic treatment of rats with naloxone for 5 days increased the analgesic threshold (hot plate latency). Further, when rats were treated with morphine-admixed food for 3 days after the chronic naloxone treatment the withdrawal signs precipitated by naloxone were significantly greater in the naloxone-pretreated rats than in saline-pretreated rats. These results suggest that paradoxical analgesia and enhancement of the morphine withdrawal signs induced by chronic naloxone treatment may be associated mainly with up-regulation of mu- and delta-opioid binding sites in the central nervous system.     

Tolerance to morphine induced by chronic treatment with tilidine

Summary Chronic treatment of rats with tilidine produced tolerance to tilidine and morphine as tested in the tail-flick response.     

Acute reserpine treatment induces down regulation of D-1 dopamine receptor associated adenylyl cyclase activity in rat striatum.

Behavioural studies suggest a functional interaction between D-1 and D-2 systems in normal rat striatum to alter motor behaviour and which is disrupted by dopamine depletion induced by acute reserpine treatment. Consequently, we have investigated the effect of acute reserpine treatment on the biochemical interaction between D-1 and D-2 receptors present in rat striatal slices. Twenty-four hours following the administration of reserpine (5 mg/kg i.p.), striatal dopamine content was depleted by more than 73%; the density (B(max)) of D-1 receptor sites measured by the in vitro binding of [3H]SCH 23390 to striatal membranes was increased while the binding of [3H]spiperone to D-2 receptor sites was unaltered. Reserpine treatment had no effect on the affinity (Kd) of [3H]SCH 23390 or [3H]spiperone for D-1 and D-2 sites. Basal levels of cyclic AMP accumulation in striatal slices prepared from reserpine-treated rats were lower than those observed in control slices. In striatal slices prepared from normal rats, dopamine (10-320 microM) and the D-1 agonist SKF 38393 (0.1-3.2 microM) induced concentration-dependent increases in cyclic AMP accumulation. The D-1 antagonist SCH 23390 (10 microM) abolished the accumulation of cyclic AMP produced by dopamine or SKF 38393. The D-2 antagonist (+/-)-sulpiride (50 microM) enhanced the response to dopamine (10-320 microM) while the D-2 agonist quinpirole (10 microM) abolished the response to SKF 38393 (0.1-3.2 microM). However, 24 hr after reserpine treatment the ability of dopamine (10-320 microM) and SKF 38393 (0.1-3.2 microM) to elicit an increase in cyclic AMP accumulation was markedly reduced in striatal slices. SCH 23390 (10 microM) did not enhance the trend for an increase in cyclic AMP accumulation produced by dopamine. Also, quinpirole (10 microM) did not affect the response to SKF 38393 (0.1-3.2 microM) in striatal slices from reserpine pretreated rats. The data confirm the positive linkage between D-1 receptors and adenylyl cyclase and the inhibitory coupling to D-2 sites in striatal slices from normal, rats. Acute reserpine treatment appears to cause an uncoupling of D-1 receptors associated with adenylyl cyclase.     

Chronic haloperidol treatment impairs glutamate transport in the rat striatum.

High-affinity, Na(+)-dependent transport of glutamate into neurons and glial cells maintains the extracellular concentration of this neurotransmitter at a sub-toxic level. Chronic blockade of dopamine D(2) receptors with haloperidol elevates extracellular glutamate levels in the striatum. The present study examines the effect of long-term haloperidol treatment on glutamate transporter activity using an assay based on measuring the uptake of D-[3H]aspartate in striatal synaptosomes prepared from male Wistar rats. The maximal rate of glutamate transport in the striatum is reduced by 63% following 27 weeks of haloperidol treatment. This impairment of glutamate transport may be important in chronic neuroleptic drug action.     

Prostaglandins in rat placenta following acute and chronic administration of morphine.

The objective of the present study was to obtain information on prostaglandin (PG) biosynthesis in placenta following narcotic administration. PG biosynthetic capacity was determined in whole rat placenta homogenates in the presence of Na arachidonate, by evaluating net production of PGs assayed against PGE1 on rat stomach strips. An enhanced prostaglandin-like activity is shown in homogenates of placenta from rats treated subcutaneously with 10 mg/kg of morphine. This increase was prevented by naloxone pre-treatment. Continual morphine administration during gestation, results in a normalization of placental biosynthetic capacity thus suggesting the development of a tolerance to the narcotic effect.     

Does chronic morphine treatment induce a supersensitivity of dopamine receptors in rat brain?

These experiments were carried out to investigate whether chronic morphine treatment increases the sensitivity of dopamine receptors in rat brain. This was studied by considering apomorphine effectiveness in a) inducing stereotyped behaviour and b) decreasing the dopamine turnover in the striata.Acute morphine treatment slightly reduced stereotyped behaviour induced by l-Dopa and by apomorphine. In morphine-withdrawn rats, apomorphine was no more effective than saline in inducing stereotypies (sniffing, licking, gnawing). However, the ability of apomorphine to lower striatal dopamine turnover was increased in morphine-withdrawn rats. Despite these latter observations, chronic morphine treatment probably did not induce a supersensitivity of dopamine receptors in rat brain.Part of the results were presented at the VIth International Symposium on Clinical Pharmacology, Regensburg, Germany, Oct. 3–6, 1974.     

Microarray analysis of differentially expressed genes in rat frontal cortex under chronic risperidone treatment.

Long-term administration of antipsychotic drugs can induce differential expression of a variety of genes in the brain, which may underscore the molecular mechanism of the clinical efficacy and/or side effects of antipsychotic drugs. We used cDNA microarray analysis to screen differentially expressed genes in rat frontal cortex under 4 weeks' treatment of risperidone (1 mg/kg). Using real-time quantitative PCR, we were able to verify eight genes, whose expression were significantly upregulated in rat frontal cortex under chronic risperidone treatment when compared with control animals. These genes include receptor for activated protein kinase C, amida, cathepsin D, calpain 2, calcium-independent receptor for alpha-latrotoxin, monoamine oxidase B, polyubiquitin, and kinesin light chain. In view of the physiological function of these genes, the results of our study suggest that chronic risperidone treatment may affect the neurotransmission, synaptic plasticity, and proteolysis of brain cells. This study also demonstrates that cDNA microarray analysis is useful for uncovering genes that are regulated by chronic antipsychotic drugs treatment, which may help bring new insight into the molecular mechanism of antipsychotic drugs.     

Effects of acute and chronic morphine treatment of calmodulin activity of rat brain

The cyclic AMP-phosphodiesterase assay was used to quantitate the amount of calmodulin activity in various brain areas of male rats treated acutely or chronically for 5 days with morphine. The acute treatment with morphine decreased calmodulin activity in the mitochondrial-synaptosomal P2 fraction of the striatum, midbrain, and thalamus but had no effect on the cerebellum, which contains a low density of opiate receptors. The decrease in calmodulin activity by morphine was dose-dependent and was blocked by the opiate antagonist naloxone. In contrast, chronic treatment of rats with morphine increased calmodulin activity in the mitochondrial-synaptosomal P2 of the striatum, midbrain, cerebral cortex, and thalamus. A highly sensitive Ca2+/Mg2+-ATPase assay was also used to quantitate the amount of calmodulin activity in subcellular fractions obtained from the striatum. Chronic morphine treatment caused a significant increase in calmodulin activity in the membrane containing microsomal, synaptosomal, and mitochondrial layers but only a small change in the layer that contained the soluble proteins and the synaptic vesicles. It is suggested that alteration of the content of calmodulin in specific subcellular sites may have a central role in opiate action and addiction via regulation of multiple calmodulin-sensitive biochemical pathways.     

Changes in fixed-interval behavior during chronic morphine treatment and morphine abstinence in rats

Rats previously trained to a fixed-interval schedule (FI 2 min) were treated twice daily with saline or morphine hydrochloride (final dose 40 mg/kg i.p.) for 44 days.On day 45 an abstinence state was induced by withdrawing morphine or by giving nalorphine (1 mg/kg i.p.). Operant behavior was recorded on alternate days during the period of chronic treatment and during the withdrawal phase (21 days). It was found that the number of lever presses decreased significantly during the first days of morphine administration but increased later over the control values. The quarter-life was not changed during this period. Morphine withdrawal and nalorphine treatment both caused a further increase in lever presses that lasted about 11 days. Again quarter-life was not changed. These results indicate that the effects of morphine on FI behavior in rats not only undergo tolerance but are actually reversed during the chronic treatment.The data obtained during the withdrawal phase are discussed in relation to the secondary abstinence syndrome described by Martin et al. (1963).     

吗啡长期给药后大鼠脑内MAO—B活性及咪唑啉受体的下调

目的:探讨吗啡长期给药处理后大鼠不同脑区MAO-B活性及咪唑啉受体含量的变化。方法:用[~3H]咪唑克生配体结合试验测定咪唑啉受体含量,用高效液相色谱法测定MAO-B活性。结果:咪唑克生和吗啡能剂量依赖性地抑制大鼠脑匀浆MAO-B活性。咪唑啉受体的内源性配体胍丁胺既不影响MAO-B活性,也不影响咪唑克生及吗啡对MAO-B活性的抑制作用。吗啡连续给药16d后大鼠大脑、海马、丘脑、纹状体及小脑内MAO-B活性均显著下调(P<0.01)。纳洛酮及咪唑克生单次给药对吗啡依赖大鼠上述脑区MAO-B活性均没有进一步影响;胍丁胺伴随吗啡给药后能显著抑制吗啡降低MAO-B活性的作用。吗啡连续给药后大鼠皮层和小脑咪唑啉受体数量减少而亲和力上调(P<0.05)或P<0.01)。结论:MAO-B活性与吗啡依赖大鼠发生戒断综合征相关,但与胍丁胺对吗啡镇痛作用的影响无关;胍丁胺对吗啡药理作用的影响与其激活咪唑啉受体有关。     

The effects of chronic bromocriptine treatment on behaviour and dopamine receptor binding in the rat striatum

Agonist-induced rotation and striatal binding of [3H]spiperone ([3H]SPIP) were assessed in rats with unilateral lesions of the substantia nigra during and after a period of chronic bromocriptine administration. Agonist-induced rotation significantly increased over a three week period of daily administration of bromocriptine (10 mg/kg i.p.); control animals were tested for agonist-induced rotation at one week intervals, which remained constant. Rotation was increased by chronic bromocriptine administration in response to either of two DA agonists, apomorphine (APO) and bromocriptine, suggesting that increased agonist sensitivity did not reflect a reduction in the metabolism of bromocriptine. Striatal binding of the dopamine D2 radioligand, [3H]SPIP, was significantly increased in the denervated striata of nigra-lesioned rats. Chronic bromocriptine administration decreased binding in denervated striata to levels not significantly different from control values. [3H]SPIP binding in intact striata was significantly reduced by bromocriptine to below control values. Differences in receptor levels reflected changes in the maximum density of binding sites with no change in affinities. Paradoxical behavioural hypersensitivity developing during chronic bromocriptine levels is not apparently mediated by changes in striatal D2 binding sites.     

Cyclic GMP and GABA levels in rat striatum and cerebellum during morphine withdrawal: effect of apomorphine.

Cyclic GMP and GABA levels were measured in the striatum and cerebellum of naive rats and rats undergoing morphine withdrawal. Cyclic GMP levels were higher in rats sacrificed at 24 hrs and 72 hrs after the last morphine administration than in controls. GABA levels were lower in 24-hr withdrawn rats than in control and 72-hr withdrawn animals. Apomorphine increased cyclic GMP levels in both striatum and cerebellum to the same extent in controls and 72-hr withdrawn rats. In rats sacrificed 24 hrs after the last morphine dose apomorphine did not change the cyclic GMP level in the striatum while it was more potent in increasing the cyclic GMP level in the cerebellum. GABA levels were not affected by apomorphine treatment.     

Changes in brain striatum dopamine and acetylcholine receptors induced by chronic CDP-choline treatment of aging mice.

1. Spiroperidol binding (dopamine D2 receptors) and quinuclidinyl benzilate binding (muscarinic receptors) in striata of 19-month old mice was analyzed for animals that had received chronic administration of cytidine 5'-diphosphocholine (CDP-choline) incorporated into the chow consumed (100 or 500 mg kg-1 added per day) for the 7 months before they were killed. 2. Treated animals displayed an increase in the dopamine receptor densities of 11% for those receiving 100 mg kg-1 and 18% for those receiving 500 mg kg-1 as compared to the control aged animals that had received no CDP-choline. Control animals showed, from 2 months to 19 months of life, a 28% decrease in the receptor density. No change in the affinity of the receptors for spiroperidol was found in the treated or untreated animals. 3. Muscarinic acetylcholine receptor densities were also partially recovered by the same treatment in aged animals that showed a 14% decrease of these receptors in this case. The muscarinic receptor density increased 6% for the animals that received 100 mg kg-1 and 17% for the animals that received 500 mg kg-1 without any change in the affinity of the receptor for quinuclidinyl benzilate. 4. Aged animals displayed a slight increase in brain membrane fluidity as indicated by a decrease in the polarization value of the non-polar fluorophore 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene. Interestingly, in the treated animals a greater increase in membrane fluidity was determined and found to be very similar for the two doses.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)