Neural Plasticity
Volume 2009 (2009), Article ID 516328, 7 pages
doi:10.1155/2009/516328
Research Article

Behavioral Consequences of Delta-Opioid Receptor Activation in the Periaqueductal Gray of Morphine Tolerant Rats

Michael M. Morgan,1 Michelle D. Ashley,1 Susan L. Ingram,1 and MacDonald J. Christie2

1Department of Psychology, Washington State University Vancouver, 14204 NE Salmon Creek Avenue, Vancouver, WA 98686, USA
2Brain and Mind Research Institute, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia

Received 2 June 2008; Revised 5 September 2008; Accepted 11 December 2008

Academic Editor: Thelma A. Lovick

Copyright © 2009 Michael M. Morgan et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Chronic morphine administration shifts delta-opioid receptors (DORs) from the cytoplasm to the plasma membrane. Given that microinjection of morphine into the PAG produces antinociception, it is hypothesized that the movement of DORs to the membrane will allow antinociception to the DOR agonist deltorphin II as a way to compensate for morphine tolerance. Tolerance was induced by twice daily injections of morphine (5, 10, or 20 mg/kg, subcutaneous) for 3.5 days. Microinjection of deltorphin into the vPAG 6 hours after the last morphine injection produced a mild antinociception that did not vary in a consistent manner across morphine pretreatment doses or nociceptive tests. In contrast, deltorphin caused a decrease in activity in morphine tolerant rats that was associated with lying in the cage. The decrease in activity and change in behavior indicate that chronic morphine administration alters DORs in the vPAG. However, activation of these receptors does not appear to compensate for the decrease in antinociception caused by morphine tolerance.