Nasim Vousooghi, Mitra-Sadat Sadat-Shirazi, Payam Safavi, Ramin Zeraati, Ardeshir Akbarabadi and Mohammad Reza Zarrindast
Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran
Scientific Tracks Abstracts: Neurochem Neuropharm
Genetic and environmental factors are involved in opioid addiction. It is claimed that offspring of addicted people are more prone for drug addiction including opioids. However, the exact mechanisms involved in trans-generational effects of opioids are not much understood. Here we have studied the effects of parental opioid addiction on morphine preference and mRNA expression of dopamine receptors in F1 male offspring. Adult male and female Wistar rats received chronic morphine followed by two weeks drug free period before mating. Two-bottle- choice paradigm was used to measure morphine preference in offspring. The mRNA expression of dopamine receptors was evaluated in prefrontal cortex, nucleus accumbens, hippocampus, and striatum of F1 male animals by Real-Time PCR approach. The results showed that F1male offspring of morphine-exposed parents had higher preference for morphine consumption in comparison to offspring of saline-exposed parents. D1 and D5 dopamine receptors were significantly up-regulated in prefrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens of F1 male offspring of morphine-exposed parents. D5 and D2 receptors were, however, down-regulated in hippocampus. D4 dopamine receptor was up-regulated in hippocampus and striatum and down-regulated in prefrontal cortex. It is concluded that chronic morphine exposure of adult male and female rats before gestation leads to higher morphine preference in their F1male offspring. Furthermore, alterations in the expression of dopamine receptors in the reward pathway could be involved in observed changes in F1 offspring.
Nasim Vousooghi completed PharmD and PhD in Pharmacology from Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences. She is working as Assistant Professor and Director of Research Deputy in the Department of Neuroscience and Addiction Studies in Tehran University of Medical Sciences from 2010 till now. She is also the Head of Genetics Laboratory of the Iranian National Center for Addiction Studies (INCAS). She has published more than 20 papers in prestigious journals.
Email: n-vousooghi@tums.ac.ir
