Kappa opioid receptors (KORs) are involved in a variety of aversive behavioral states, including anxiety. To date, a circuit-based mechanism for KOR-driven anxiety has not been described. Here, we show that activation of KORs inhibits glutamate release from basolateral amygdala (BLA) inputs to the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) and occludes the anxiolytic phenotype seen with optogen...

Recent data suggest that opioid receptors are involved in the development of nicotine physical dependence in mammals. Evidence in support of a similar involvement in an invertebrate (Planaria) is presented using the selective opioid receptor antagonist naloxone, and the more receptor subtype-selective antagonists CTAP (D-Phe-Cys-Tyr-D-Trp-Arg-Thr-Pen-Thr-NH2) (μ, MOR), naltrindole (δ, DOR), and...

Background: Use of alcohol and tobacco, the two most concurrently abused drugs, typically first occurs during adolescence. Yet, there have been no systematic analyses of ethanol (EtOH) and nicotine (Nic) interactions during adolescence. Recent animal studies report that kappa-opioid (KOR) receptor activation mediates age differences in drug reinforcement. Our hypothesis is that concurrent self-...

G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are important targets for treating severe diseases. However why certain molecules act as activators whereas others, with similar structures, block GPCR activation, is poorly understood since the same molecule can activate one receptor subtype while blocking another closely related receptor. To shed light on these central questions, we used all-atom, long-time...

J. Kor. Oral Maxillofac. Surg. 2005;31:143-149)

inter- and intra-population variations of a recently described endemic cyprinid fish alburnoides qanati coad and bogutskaya, 2009 collected from three localities in the kor river basin, iran, were studied by applying morphometric and meristic characters using canonical discriminate function analysis (dfa), principal component analysis (pca) and cluster analysis (ca). in dfa, the overall random ...

Pruritus (itch sensation) is the most common side effect associated with spinal administration of morphine given to humans for analgesia. A variety of agents have been proposed as antipruritics with poorly understood mechanisms and they are effective with variable success. kappa-Opioid agonists possess several actions that are opposite to micro -opioid agonists. We proposed to investigate the r...

Given that the κ opioid receptor (KOR) system has been implicated in psychostimulant abuse, we evaluated whether the selective KOR antagonist norbinaltorphimine dihydrochloride (nor-BNI) would attenuate the escalation of methamphetamine (METH) intake in an extended-access self-administration model. Systemic nor-BNI decreased the escalation of intake of long-access (LgA) but not short-access (Sh...

Opioid receptors may play critical roles in alcoholism and other addictions, addiction withdrawal, and depression and are considered pharmacological targets for treatment of these conditions. Sex differences have been demonstrated in mu (MOR) and delta (DOR) opioid receptors in humans, in vivo. In addition, sex differences have been observed in efficacy of treatment targeting kappa opioid recep...

this study provides new data on chromosomal characteristics and dna barcoding of three endemic loaches of iran: spiny southern loach cobitis linea (heckel, 1847), persian stream loach oxynoemacheilus persa (heckel, 1848) and tongiorgi stream loach oxynoemacheilus tongiorgii (nalbant & bianco, 1998). the chromosomes of these fishes were investigated by examining metaphase chromosome spreads ...