The increasing prescription of opioids is fueling an epidemic of addiction and overdose deaths. Morphine is a highly addictive drug characterized by a high relapse rate - even after a long period of abstinence. Serotonin (5-HT) neurotransmission participates in the development of morphine dependence, as well as the expression of morphine withdrawal. In this study, we examined the effect of bloc...

Preventing and reversing opioid dependence continues to be a clinical challenge and underlying mechanisms of opioid actions remain elusive. We report that matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) in the spinal cord contributes to development of physical dependence on morphine. Chronic morphine exposure and naloxone-precipitated withdrawal increase activity of spinal MMP-9. Spinal inhibition or target...

Objective This study was initiated to investigate the effect of Portulaca oleraceae on morphine dependence in mice. Materials and Methods Dependence was induced using the subcutaneous injections of morphine for 3 days. On the day 4, morphine injected 2 h prior to intraperitoneal injection of naloxone. The plant extracts ethanolic or aqueous administered 0.5 h before the final dose of morphine. ...

BACKGROUND Red ginseng and ginsenosides have shown plethoric effects against various ailments. However, little is known regarding the effect of red ginseng on morphine-induced dependence and tolerance. We therefore investigated the effect of red ginseng extract (RGE) and biotransformed ginsenosides Rh2, Rg3, and compound K on morphine-induced dependence in mice and rats. METHODS While mice we...

It has been proved that agmatine inhibits opioid dependence, yet the neural mechanism remains unclear. In the present study, the effect of agmatine on the neuroadaptation of glutamate neurotransmission induced by morphine dependence, including changes of the extracellular glutamate level and glutamate receptors in the nucleus accumbens was investigated. We found that agmatine (2.5-20mg/kg, s.c....

introduction: there are evidences showing the role of nitric oxide in the opiate reward properties. the role of nitric oxide signaling pathway as an intracellular mechanism on augmentation of long term potentiation in hippocampal ca1 area of rats is also confirmed. it has been also reported that oral morphine dependence facilitates formation of spatial learning and memory via activation of nmda...

Objective(s) Single injection of naloxone, a selective antagonist of morphine, prior to the drug conditioning testing was used to investigate on morphine dependence. Materials and Methods Conditioning to morphine (2.5-10 mg/kg, s.c.) was established in adult male Wistar rats (weighing 200-250 g) using an unbiased procedure. Nitric oxide agents were microinjected into the central amygdala pri...

A patient is described who had a long history of abuse of kaolin and morphine mixture which ultimately proved fatal.

Diabetes is one of the most common diseases in all societies including Iran. One of its important complications is the neuropathic pain, which can be relieved by opioid drugs such as morphine. Opioid therapy is restricted due to development of tolerance and physical or mental dependence. In this study, the effect of diabetes on morphine analgesia and development of morphine tolerance and depend...