BRAIN DYNORPHIN AND ENKEPHALIN SYSTEMS IN FISCHER AND LEWIS RATS - EFFECTS OF MORPHINE-TOLERANCE AND WITHDRAWAL

Lewis rats are more likely tp self-administer various drugs of abuse t han Fischer rats. Here these two strains of rats were compared with re gard to basal brain opioid peptide levels and the response to chronic morphine treatment and to naloxone-precipitated withdrawal. Lewis rats had lower basal dynorphin peptides in the substantia nigra, striatum (not Leu-enkephalinArg(6)) and VTA (not dynorphin B) and the pituitary gland. Leu-enkephalinArg(6) levels were also lower in these structure s (with the exception of striatum which had higher levels) and in the nucleus accumbens. There were also strain differences in the response to chronic morphine treatment; in the nucleus accumbens, morphine trea tment increased dynorphin A levels in Fischer rats only, in the ventra l tegmental area effects were opposite with increased dynorphin levels in Fischer and decreased levels in Lewis rats, in the hippocampus dyn orphin levels were markedly reduced in Lewis rats only. In Fischer rat s, chronic morphine strongly affected peptide levels in the substantia nigra and striatum, whereas Lewis rats responded less in these areas. Leu-enkephalin, which derives from both prodynorphin and proenkephali n, and Met-enkephalin, which derives from proenkephalin, were affected by chronic morphine mainly in Fischer rats, increasing levels in most of the brain areas examined. The results in this study show (1) strai n differences in basal levels of prodynorphin-derived opioid peptides, (2) the prodynorphin system to be differently influenced by morphine in Lewis rats than in Fischer rats and 3) the proenkephalin system to be influenced by chronic morphine in brain areas related to reward pro cesses only in Fischer rats.