Elsevier

Physiology & Behavior

Volume 51, Issue 5, May 1992, Pages 1093-1096
Physiology & Behavior

Brief communication
Comparison of μ opioid receptors in brains of rats bred for high or low rate of self-stimulation

https://doi.org/10.1016/0031-9384(92)90099-NGet rights and content

Abstract

Opiates and endogenous opioid peptides play an important role in reward-mediated behaviors, including self-stimulation. Two strains of rats, LC2-Hi and LC2-Lo, selectively bred for high vs. low rate of lateral hypothalamic self-stimulation, were employed in the present study. Quantitative autoradiography was performed on brains of adult male rats of each strain, using the μ opioid receptor agonist 3H-DAGO. Strain differences in receptor density were observed in the nucleus accumbens and in ventral areas of the hippocampus.

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Cited by (5)

  • Changes in D1 but not D2 dopamine or mu-opioid receptor expression in limbic and motor structures after lateral hypothalamus electrical self-stimulation: A quantitative autoradiographic study

    2016, Neurobiology of Learning and Memory
    Citation Excerpt :

    Some authors have examined the expression of D1 and D2 dopaminergic receptors in operant behaviors for feeding (Haberny & Carr, 2005; Narayanan, Land, Solder, Deisseroth, & DiLeone, 2012) and in the selection of instrumental responses related to reward (Koch et al., 2000); the expression of both DA and opioid receptors have also been examined in the self-administration of morphine and other drugs (Biscaia et al., 2008; Higuera-Matas et al., 2010; Le Marec, Marie-Claire, Noble, & Marie, 2011; Sanchez-Cardoso et al., 2007, 2009). There have also been mapping studies of brain areas in which metabolic activity was modified in response to unilateral rewarding self-stimulation of the MFB and dopaminergic antagonist administration (Gallistel, Gomita, Yadin, & Campbell, 1985), and which also showed the involvement of endogenous opioid activity in different rat strains (Gross-Isseroff, Cohen, & Shavit, 1992). With this background, the objective of the present study was to use quantitative autoradiography to examine the importance of the opioid (centering on mu receptors) and dopaminergic (investigating D1 and D2 receptor expression) systems in LH-induced self-stimulation behavior, in which both are reportedly involved.

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