Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Morphine-dopamine interaction: ventral tegmental morphine increases nucleus accumbens dopamine release.

P Leone1, D Pocock, R A Wise

  • 1Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior
|June 1, 1991
PubMed
Summary

Morphine injections into the ventral tegmental area increase dopamine levels in the nucleus accumbens. These findings suggest that opiate receptors near the ventral tegmental area activate the mesolimbic dopamine system.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Validation of personal protective equipment ensembles, incorporating powered air-purifying respirators protected from contamination, for the care of patients with high-consequence infectious diseases.

The Journal of hospital infection·2023
Same author

Use of a short-term whole blood intracellular staining assay to study the T-cell response in respiratory syncytial virus-infected pediatric patients.

Journal of biological regulators and homeostatic agents·2018
Same author

Belimumab restores Treg/Th17 balance in patients with refractory systemic lupus erythematosus.

Lupus·2018
Same author

Mucine-1 Is Related to Cell-Mediated Immunoexpression and Blood Pressure in Pulmonary Artery in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH): Preliminary Results.

Advances in experimental medicine and biology·2018
Same author

Prevalence and risk factors of restrictive spirometry in a cohort of Peruvian adults.

The international journal of tuberculosis and lung disease : the official journal of the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease·2017
Same author

Effect of obesity on sinonasal disease in asthma.

The Journal of asthma : official journal of the Association for the Care of Asthma·2017

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Pharmacology
  • Neurochemistry

Background:

  • The mesolimbic dopamine system is crucial for reward and motivation.
  • Opioid drugs, like morphine, are known to affect this system.
  • The precise mechanisms of opioid action on dopamine release require further elucidation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the effect of ventral tegmental area (VTA) morphine administration on extracellular dopamine levels.
  • To identify the specific brain regions and receptor sites involved in morphine-induced dopamine release.
  • To understand the role of the VTA in mediating the effects of opioids on the mesolimbic dopamine system.

Main Methods:

  • Microdialysis was employed to measure extracellular dopamine levels in anesthetized rats.

Related Experiment Videos

  • High-performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection (HPLC-ECD) was used for precise dopamine quantification.
  • Morphine was administered via microinjection into the ventral tegmental area.

    • Main Results:

    • Ventral tegmental morphine injections (13.2 nanomoles) significantly increased dopamine and its metabolites in the nucleus accumbens by 50-150%.
    • The dopamine increase exhibited a latency of approximately 15 minutes, peaking between 30-50 minutes post-injection.
    • Contralateral dopamine levels showed only minimal alterations, indicating a localized effect.

    Conclusions:

    • Opiate receptors located in or near the ventral tegmental area are implicated as the primary sites of action.
    • Activation of these VTA opiate receptors is responsible for the observed opioid-mediated activation of the mesolimbic dopamine system.
    • This study provides evidence for the VTA as a critical node in the neurobiological effects of morphine.