Drug abuse and dependence have progressively become a dramatic problem in human societies. Since the exact mechanism(s) of the effect of related drugs in the brain has not been explored, therefore, this problem has not been resolved yet. Several lines of evidence indicated that nitric oxide (NO) plays an important role in the process of drug dependence. The role of NO within the different regio...

The aim of the present study was to investigate, in vivo, the effect of a Brugmansia arborea extract (BRU), chromatographic fractions (FA and FNA), and isolated alkaloids on the expression and the acquisition of morphine tolerance and dependence. Substances were acutely (for expression) or repeatedly (for acquisition) administered in mice treated with morphine twice daily for 5 or 6 days, in or...

OBJECTIVES Dependence and tolerance to opioid analgesics are major problems limiting their clinical application. α-Terpineol is a monoterpenoid alcohol with neuroprotective effects which is found in several medicinal plants such as Myrtus communis, Laurus nobilis, and Stachys byzantina. It has been shown that some of these medicinal plants such as S. byzantina attenuate dependence and tolerance...

Glycyl-glutamine (Gly-Gln; beta-endorphin(30-31)) is an endogenous dipeptide synthesized from beta-endorphin(1-31). Previous investigations have shown that Gly-Gln inhibits the cardiovascular and respiratory depression caused by morphine and beta-endorphin(1-31), but it does not interfere with opioid analgesia. In this study, we tested whether Gly-Gln administration would influence morphine-ind...

AIM To investigate the effects of morphine dependence and withdrawal on the concentrations of neurosteroids in rat brain. METHODS A method of simultaneous quantification of neurosteroids by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) had been established. RESULTS The chronic morphine administration (ip) resulted in a marked decrease in the brain concentrations of pregnenolone (PREG), proge...

mice were rendered tolerant and dependent to morphine by subcutaneous injection of morphine over a period of 5 days. the effects of acute and chronic administration of dihydropyridine calcium channel antagonist nifedipine on the development of tolerance and naloxone-precipitated morphine withdrawal signs were investigated. a single injection of nifedipine proved to be effective in inhibiting so...

Although morphine induces both analgesia and dependence through mu-opioid receptors (MORs), the respective contributions of the intracellular effectors engaged by MORs remain unknown. To examine the contribution of G-protein-gated inwardly rectifying K(+) (GIRK, Kir3) channels to morphine dependence and analgesia, we quantified naloxone-precipitated withdrawal behavior and morphine analgesia us...

BACKGROUND Chronic administration of morphine cause physical dependence but the exact mechanism of this phenomenon remains unclear. The aim of this study is the assessment of systemic and intracerebroventricular (icv) administration of ramelteon (a melatonin receptor agonist) on morphine physical dependence. METHODS 88 adult male rats were divided into 2 major groups, namely "systematic" and ...

Learning and memory have been suggested to be important in the development of opiate addiction. Based on the recent findings that calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) is essential in learning and memory processes, and morphine treatment increases CaMKII activity in hippocampus, the present study was undertaken to examine whether inhibition of hippocampal CaMKII prevents morph...