OBJECTIVES Magnetic fields have been shown to affect cell proliferation and growth factor expression in cultured cells. Although the activation of endorphin systems is a recurring motif among the biological events elicited by magnetic fields, compelling evidence indicating that magnetic fields may modulate opioid gene expression is still lacking. We therefore investigated whether extremely low ...

Spinocerebellar ataxia type 23 is caused by mutations in PDYN, which encodes the opioid neuropeptide precursor protein, prodynorphin. Prodynorphin is processed into the opioid peptides, a-neoendorphin, and dynorphins A and B, that normally exhibit opioid-receptor mediated actions in pain signalling and addiction. Dynorphin A is likely a mutational hotspot for spinocerebellar ataxia type 23 muta...

The role of dynorphin/kappa opioid receptors in epilepsy and addiction are well accepted, but their function in emotional control is not yet fully understood. Data obtained from different strains of prodynorphin (Pdyn)- and kappa opioid receptor (KOP)-deficient mice do not provide a consistent picture of the functions of Dyn/KOP in anxiety, suggesting the influence of testing conditions and/or ...

BACKGROUND We investigated the effects of pre-emptive administration of ketamine and norBNI on pain behavior and the expression of DREAM, c-Fos, and prodynorphin proteins on the ipsilateral side of the rat spinal cord at 2 and 4 hours after formalin injection. METHODS Eighty-four male Sprague Dawley rats were divided into 4 major groups consisting of control rats (C) (n = 12), rats given only...