Analysis of brain PEBP and ERK in morphine-induced CPP model in rats / 中国药理学通报

ABSTRACT

Aim To analyze the expression of phosphatidylethanolamine-binding protein(PEBP) and ERK in critical brain regions of psychological dependence rats.Methods Morphine-induced rats conditioned place preference(CPP) model was established to mimic different stages of morphine psychological dependence, during which PEBP expression and ERK activity were assayed in different brain regions.Results PEBP expression in hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, striatum and nucleus accumbens showed no change at three stages of psychological dependence.However, ERK activity increased notably in prefrontal cortex on CPP formation, and decreased remarkably in hippocampus on CPP reinstatement.Conclusions The formation and retrieval of associated memory between morphine effects and environment involve different neural circuits, in which ERK activity is critical, and PEBP might not be involved in such a memory-related ERK regulation.