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Adolescent morphine exposure increases the intensity of withdrawal syndrome and conditioned place aversion in adulthood
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Sara Sabuee   , Seyed Mohammad Ahmadi Soleimani , Hosein Azizi *  |
| Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran |
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Abstract: (1331 Views) |
Background and aims: Adolescence is considered as a critical developmental period during which long-lasting changes occur in the brain. Accumulating evidence support the growing non-medical use of morphine during adolescence. However, the long-term neurobiological and behavioral effects of opiate exposure during this stage are still remained largely unexplored. The present study examined the long term effects of adolescent morphine exposure on withdrawal signs and the negative motivational aspects of morphine withdrawal syndrome induced by naloxone in adult morphine dependent rats.
Methods: Adolescent male Wistar rats (30 days old) were administered increasing doses of morphine (from 2.5 to 25 mg/kg, s.c.) every 12 h, for 10days. Control rats received saline with the same protocol. Thereafter, during adulthood (65 days old), they were rendered dependent on morphine and tested for opioid withdrawal-induced conditioned place aversion to investigate the negative motivational aspects of withdrawal syndrome induced by naloxone.
Results: Results showed that adolescent morphine treatment significantly increases the expression of morphine withdrawal signs and potentiates naloxone-induced conditioned place aversion in adult morphine dependent rats.
Conclusion: It can be concluded that chronic morphine treatment during adolescence in rats causes prolonged behavioral (and most probably neurobiological) changes in the central nervous system, which results in alteration of morphine withdrawal in adulthood.
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| Keywords: Conditioned place aversion, Morphine withdrawal syndrome, Rat, Adolescence |
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Full-Text [PDF 915 kb]
(726 Downloads)
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Type of Study: Original Research |
Subject:
Neuroscience
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