AIM OF STUDY: To investigate the effect of mitragynine after chronic morphine treatment on cyclic AMP (cAMP) level and mRNA expression of mu-opioid receptor (MOR) in human neuroblastoma SK-N-SH cell.
METHOD AND MATERIALS: Mitragynine was isolated from the Mitragyna speciosa plant using the acid-base extraction method. The cAMP level upon forskolin stimulation in the cells was determined using the Calbiochem(®) Direct Immunoassay Kit. The mRNA expression of the MOR was carried out using quantitative RT-PCR.
RESULT: Cotreatment and pretreatment of morphine and mitragynine significantly reduced the production of cAMP level at a lower concentration of mitragynine while the higher concentration of this compound could lead to the development of tolerance and dependence as shown by the increase of the cAMP level production in foskolin stimulation. In MOR mRNA expression study, cotreatment of morphine with mitragynine significantly reduced the down-regulation of MOR mRNA expression as compared to morphine treatment only.
CONCLUSION: These finding suggest that mitragynine could possibly avoid the tolerance and dependence on chronic morphine treatment by reducing the up-regulation of cAMP level as well as reducing the down-regulation of MOR at a lower concentration of mitragynine.
RESULTS: We show that Rasd1 is expressed in vasopressin neurons of the PVN and SON, within which mRNA levels are induced by hyperosmotic cues. Dexamethasone treatment of AtT20 cells decreased forskolin stimulation of c-Fos, Nr4a1 and phosphorylated CREB expression, effects that were mimicked by overexpression of Rasd1, and inhibited by knockdown of Rasd1. These effects were dependent upon isoprenylation, as both farnesyltransferase inhibitor FTI-277 and CAAX box deletion prevented Rasd1 inhibition of cAMP-induced gene expression. Injection of lentiviral vector into rat SON expressing Rasd1 diminished, whereas CAAX mutant increased, cAMP inducible genes in response to osmotic stress.
CONCLUSIONS: We have identified two mechanisms of Rasd1 induction in the hypothalamus, one by elevated glucocorticoids in response to stress, and one in response to increased plasma osmolality resulting from osmotic stress. We propose that the abundance of RASD1 in vasopressin expressing neurons, based on its inhibitory actions on CREB phosphorylation, is an important mechanism for controlling the transcriptional responses to stressors in both the PVN and SON. These effects likely occur through modulation of cAMP-PKA-CREB signaling pathway in the brain.