Cannabinoid and heroin activation of mesolimbic dopamine transmission by a common mu1 opioid receptor mechanism
- PMID: 9197269
- DOI: 10.1126/science.276.5321.2048
Cannabinoid and heroin activation of mesolimbic dopamine transmission by a common mu1 opioid receptor mechanism
Abstract
The effects of the active ingredient of Cannabis, Delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Delta9-THC), and of the highly addictive drug heroin on in vivo dopamine transmission in the nucleus accumbens were compared in Sprague-Dawley rats by brain microdialysis. Delta9-THC and heroin increased extracellular dopamine concentrations selectively in the shell of the nucleus accumbens; these effects were mimicked by the synthetic cannabinoid agonist WIN55212-2. SR141716A, an antagonist of central cannabinoid receptors, prevented the effects of Delta9-THC but not those of heroin. Naloxone, a generic opioid antagonist, administered systemically, or naloxonazine, an antagonist of micro1 opioid receptors, infused into the ventral tegmentum, prevented the action of cannabinoids and heroin on dopamine transmission. Thus, Delta9-THC and heroin exert similar effects on mesolimbic dopamine transmission through a common mu1 opioid receptor mechanism located in the ventral mesencephalic tegmentum.
Comment in
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Marijuana: harder than thought?Science. 1997 Jun 27;276(5321):1967-8. doi: 10.1126/science.276.5321.1967. Science. 1997. PMID: 9221496 No abstract available.
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Marijuana addiction.Science. 1997 Aug 8;277(5327):749; author reply 750-2. doi: 10.1126/science.277.5327.749a. Science. 1997. PMID: 9273692 No abstract available.
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