Cannabinoids and opioids share cAMP pathway in rat splenocytes

In the present work we investigated on rat splenocytes long-term interactions between opioid and cannabinoid drugs in terms of a common regulation of cAMP intracellular pathway. Both morphine and the synthetic cannabinoid compound CP-55,940 inhibited in a concentration-dependent manner the intracellular cAMP level in splenocytes stimulated by forskolin. The in vitro combination of submaximal concentrations of the two drugs did not yield any additive effect on the inhibition induced by the two drugs. In splenocytes taken from rats chronically treated with CP-55,940 (0.2 mg/kg i.p., twice a day for 4.5 days) or morphine (5 mg/kg s.c., twice a day for 6.5 days) and in vitro exposed to either CP-55,940 or morphine, it was found a desensitisation and cross-desensitisation to the inhibitory effects on cAMP production induced by the two drugs. Binding experiments on the cannabinoid receptors level in spleen coronal sections after in vivo chronic administration of morphine, revealed that there was no changes in the binding of [H3]-CP-55,940. Thus, these results strengthen the hypothesis of cAMP as part of the common intracellular pathway shared by opiates and cannabinoids at immune cell level.