| First Author | Zhang J | Year | 2023 |
| Journal | iScience | Volume | 26 |
| Issue | 9 | Pages | 107536 |
| PubMed ID | 37636073 | Mgi Jnum | J:339656 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:7523702 | Doi | 10.1016/j.isci.2023.107536 |
| Citation | Zhang J, et al. (2023) Kappa opioid receptor in nucleus accumbens regulates depressive-like behaviors following prolonged morphine withdrawal in mice. iScience 26(9):107536 |
| abstractText | Prolonged withdrawal from opioids leads to negative emotions. Kappa opioid receptor (KOR) plays an important role in opioid addiction and affective disorders. However, the underlying mechanism of KOR in withdrawal-related depression is still lacking. We found that escitalopram treatment had a limited effect in improving depression symptoms in heroin-dependent patients. In mice, we demonstrated prolonged (4 weeks) but not acute (24 h) withdrawal from morphine induced depressive-like behaviors. The number of c-Fos positive cells and the expression of KOR in the nucleus accumbens (NAc), were significantly increased in the prolonged morphine withdrawal mice. Conditional KOR knockdown in NAc significantly improved depressive-like behaviors. Repeated but not acute treatment with the KOR antagonist norBNI improved depressive-like behaviors and reversed PSD95, synaptophysin, p-ERK, p-CREB, and BDNF in NAc. This study demonstrated the important role of striatal KOR in morphine withdrawal-related depressive-like behaviors and offered therapeutic potential for the treatment of withdrawal-related depression. |
