Volume 12, Issue 4 (Winter 2009)                   Physiol Pharmacol 2009, 12(4): 342-350 | Back to browse issues page

XML Print

Download citation:
BibTeX | RIS | EndNote | Medlars | ProCite | Reference Manager | RefWorks
Send citation to:
Mostafaie A, Pourmotabbed A, Khalafi A, Nedaei S E, Sahraei H, Hajihosseini R. The effect of morphine dependence on expression of hippocampal N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor subunits in male rats. Physiol Pharmacol 2009; 12 (4) :342-350
URL: http://ppj.phypha.ir/article-1-507-en.html
The effect of morphine dependence on expression of hippocampal N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor subunits in male rats
Ali Mostafaie , Ali Pourmotabbed , Abdolrasool Khalafi , Seyed Ershad Nedaei , Hedayat Sahraei , Reza Hajihosseini
Abstract:   (15543 Views)
Introduction: N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors play a pivotal role in the development of tolerance and physical dependence to opiates. Activation of NMDA receptors involves the induction of long term potentiation (LTP) in hippocampus. Our previous study suggested that chronic oral administration of morphine enhanced NMDA dependent LTP in the CA1 area of hippocampal slices of rats. The present study examines the expression levels of individual NMDA receptor subunits, NR1, NR2A and NR2B, in the hippocampus of morphine-dependent rats by using western blotting. Methods: Total proteins of hippocampus were extracted by Tris-HCl buffer containing anti proteases and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). The extracted proteins were resolved by SDS-PAGE and transferred to polyvinylidenefloride (PVDF) membrane by tank blotting and the subunits of NMDA receptor were analyzed by immunoblotting by using specific antibodies. Results: Obtained results provide both biochemical and statistical evidence to suggest that NMDA receptor function in the hippocampus, at least in terms of expression of NR1, NR2A and NR2B protein subunits, increases in morphinedependent rats. Conclusion: Taken together, these data support several studies in the literature indicating that NMDA receptors in the hippocampus are involved in the process of opiate dependence.
Keywords: hippocampus, morphine-dependence, rat, NMDA receptor subunits.
Full-Text [PDF 644 kb]   (1984 Downloads)    
Type of Manuscript: Experimental research article | Subject: Others
Rights and permissions
Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.