Effects of Single Injections of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factors into the Midline Ventral Tegmental Area on the Reinforcing Properties of Morphine

The strong positive reinforcing effect of opiates is regarded as a trigger for the development of pathological dependence, though the neurobiological basis of this process has received little study. Published data suggest that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the lateral ventral tegmental...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Neuroscience and behavioral physiology 2018, Vol.48 (1), p.123-129
Main Authors: Peregud, D. I., Stepanichev, M. Yu, Lazareva, N. A., Panchenko, L. F., Gulyaeva, N. V.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Behavioral Sciences
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Biomedicine
Brain
Brain-derived neurotrophic factor
Conditioning
Morphine
Narcotics
Neurobiology
Neurosciences
Neurotrophic factors
Opioids
Phosphates
Physiology
Place preference conditioning
Rats
Reinforcement
Rodents
Ventral tegmentum
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Summary:The strong positive reinforcing effect of opiates is regarded as a trigger for the development of pathological dependence, though the neurobiological basis of this process has received little study. Published data suggest that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the lateral ventral tegmental area (VTA) can modulate the positive reinforcement produced by morphine. The involvement of BDNF in the midline VTA in mediating positive reinforcement has not previously been studied. The aim of the present work was to assess the influences of single injections of BDNF into the midline VTA in rats on the acquisition and reproduction of a conditioned place preference reaction (CPPR) induced by morphine. The CPPR was developed over eight sessions (one session per day). Rats received alternating doses of i.p. morphine (10 mg/kg) or isotonic saline, combining administration with corresponding conditioned contextual stimuli. Recombinant human BDNF (0.75 μg) or solvent (phosphate-buffered saline, PBS) were given as single doses into the midline VTA one day before or one day after the conditioning phase. During testing of the CPPR, animals spent statistically significantly longer periods of time ( p < 0.05) in the sector associated with morphine administration than in the sector associated with administration of physiological saline. This is evidence that morphine had a reinforcing action, inducing preference for the place the animals occupied after administration. Single injections of BDNF into the midline VTA given before but not after the conditioning phase eliminated the differences between the times spent in the sector associated with morphine and physiological saline administration ( p > 0.05). It can therefore be suggested that single doses of BDNF into the midline VTA before the conditioning phase can weaken the reinforcing properties of morphine.
ISSN:0097-0549
1573-899X
DOI:10.1007/s11055-017-0540-x