O. Valverde et al., PROTEIN-KINASES IN THE RAT NUCLEUS-ACCUMBENS ARE INVOLVED IN THE AVERSIVE COMPONENT OF OPIATE WITHDRAWAL, European journal of neuroscience, 8(12), 1996, pp. 2671-2678
The specific participation of protein kinases in the expression of the
somatic signs of morphine withdrawal has been previously demonstrated
, suggesting that changes in intracellular signalling systems are invo
lved in opioid addiction. In the present study, the involvement of pro
tein kinases in the aversive/dysphoric effects of morphine abstinence
has been investigated in the nucleus accumbens, because of the critica
l role played by the mesolimbic system in the rewarding effects of opi
oids. Rats were chronically treated with morphine, twice a day for 5 d
ays, with doses progressively increased from 5 to 30 mg/kg (i.p.). In
addition, microinjections into the nucleus accumbens of the serine-thr
eonine kinase inhibitors H7 or H8 (1 or 10 nmol per side) or saline on
ce daily were also given, both in control and in morphine-treated anim
als. After these chronic treatments, withdrawal syndrome was induced b
y naloxone administration (0.1 mg/kg, s.c.), and the motivational comp
onent of morphine abstinence was studied using the place aversion para
digm. When administered at the highest dose (10 nmol), H7 and H8 stron
gly reduced the place aversion induced by naloxone in morphine depende
nt animals. Protein kinase inhibitors did not induce significant behav
ioural responses in non-dependent animals, Chronic morphine treatment
induced a selective up-regulation of adenylate cyclase activity in the
amygdala, without affecting other brain regions. The morphine-increas
ed adenylate cyclase activity in amygdala was reversed by the chronic
intra-accumbens microinjection of H7 or H8. These results suggest that
serine-threonine kinases in the nucleus accumbens play an important r
ole in the emotional/dysphoric properties which characterize opiate wi
thdrawal.