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Lithium alters mu-opioid receptor expression in the rat brain
J M de Gandarias1, I Acebes, E Echevarría
1Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, University of the Basque Country, Bilbao, Spain.
Abstract:
Lithium can potentiate the effects of antidepressant drugs and alters morphine analgesia and phosphoinositide turnover. Analysis of mu-opioid receptor immunostaining after chronic lithium administration in rats revealed an increase in the density of cells expressing mu-opioid receptors in the caudatus-putamen, the dentate gyrus, the lateral septum and the frontal, parietal and piriform cortices. These data suggest that mu-opioid receptor expression in the rat forebrain is altered by in vivo chronic lithium treatment. This could be a compensatory mechanism, induced in part by the effects of lithium on mu-opioid receptor transduction mechanism.