Characterization of mu opioid receptor binding during amygdala kindling in rats and effects of chronic naloxone pretreatment: an autoradiographic study
Using in vitro autoradiography, mu receptor binding in rat brain was characterized at different amygdala kindling stages and in amygdaloid kindled animals pretreated chronically with naloxone. Male Sprague-Dawley rats implanted with bipolar electrodes in the right amygdala received one of the following pretreatments s.c. for 14 days via osmotic minipumps: normal saline solution, 0.5 microliters/h, or naloxone HCl, 75 micrograms/h. Two days after treatments were accomplished animals were stimulated daily. Our data showed different patterns of mu receptor binding during the normal kindling process: during stage II-III, pronounced binding increase was detected in cingulate, temporal and entorhinal cortices, anterior amygdala, caudate putamen, thalamic nuclei, ventrolateral and dorsolateral portions of central gray, substantia nigra pars compacta and pars reticulata.