%0 Journal Article
%T Effect of chronic morphine administration on Ca2+/Calmodulin-Dependent protein kinase II¦Á activity in rat locus coeruleus and its possible role in morphine dependency
%A Mojdeh Navidhamidi
%A Mohammad Javan
%A Yaghoub Fatholahi
%A Saeed Semnanian
%J Physiology and Pharmacology
%D 2010
%I Iranian Society for Physiology and Pharmacology
%X Introduction: The aim of this study was to assess the effect of Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent kinase II¦Á (CaMKII¦Á) inhibitor (KN-93) injection into the locus coeruleus (LC) on the modulation of withdrawal signs. We also sought to study the effect of chronic morphine administration on CaMKII¦Á activity in the rat LC. Methods: The research was based on behavioral and molecular studies. In the behavioral study, we cannulated the LC with stereotaxic surgery and after 7 days of recovery, injections of KN-93, KN-92 (inactive analogue of KN-93) or DMSO (vehicle) was performed. Morphine and saline were injected in control groups. In the molecular study, we assessed the amount of phosphorylated CaMKII¦Á (pCaMKII¦Á) protein expression in LC nucleus using western blot technique. Results: Behavioral study; There was a significant difference in withdrawal signs between KN-93 and morphine dependent groups (P<0.05). No significant difference was observed between KN-92 and morphine dependent groups and also between DMSO and morphine dependent groups. Molecular study; Morphine and control groups and also morphine and naloxone groups showed significant differences in the level of pCaMKII¦Á (P<0.05). There was no significant difference between control and naloxone groups. Conclusion: Chronic morphine administration can increase the amount of CaMKII¦Á activity in LC nucleus and inhibition of this enzyme can decrease some withdrawal signs in dependent rats.
%K Key words: Morphine
%K Dependency
%K CaMKII¦Á (Ca2+-Calmodulin Kinase II¦Á)
%K Locus coeruleus
%K Rat
%U http://www.phypha.ir/ppj/browse.php?a_code=A-10-388-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1