ABSTRACT
AIM:To observe the effects of cholecystokinin octapeptide (CCK-8) and its receptor antagonists on cAMP response element binding protein ( CREB) and phosphorylated CREB ( pCREB) expression in frontal cortex and hippocampus of morphine withdrawal rats , which aim to explore the post-receptor mechanism through which CCK-8 regu-lates morphine withdrawal .METHODS: After the morphine dependence and naloxone-precipitated withdrawal animal models were established, the effects of CCK-8, L-364718 (CCK1 receptor antagonist) and LY-288513 (CCK2 receptor an-tagonist) pretreatment on CREB and pCREB expression in frontal cortex and hippocampus were observed by Western blot -ting and immunohistochemistry .RESULTS:In rat frontal cortex neuron , CREB was expressed in both cytoplasm and nu-cleus, but pCREB was only highly expressed in the nucleus .In the pyramidal cell layer of hippocampal CA 1 region, CREB showed high expression in the cytoplasm and low expression in the nucleus , while pCREB was only expressed in the nu-cleus.No obvious change of CREB was observed after either chronic morphine treatment or naloxone withdrawal .The pCREB expression was increased after chronic morphine treatment and further increased after naloxone withdrawal .Com-pared with the withdrawal group , chronic pretreatment with CCK-8, L-364718 and LY-288513 had no effect on CREB expression in the frontal cortex , but obviously decreased the pCREB expression .In the hippocampus , pretreatment with L-364718 and LY-288513 decreased CREB and pCREB expression , but only the pCREB expression was decreased after CCK-8 treatment.CONCLUSION:CCK-8 and CCK receptor antagonists may alleviate morphine withdrawal symptoms by regulating CREB , with specificity in different brain regions .