Opioid receptors in the brain of the rat following chronic treatment with desipramine and electroconvulsive shock.
The effect of chronic administration of electroconvulsive shock and the antidepressant drug desipramine on binding to opioid receptors was studied in the cerebral cortex, the basal ganglia and the hippocampus of the forebrain of the rat. In vitro, desipramine inhibited the binding of enkephalinamide to opioid receptors through a reduction in the number of binding sites, whereas the affinity was unchanged or only slightly decreased. In vivo desipramine, injected daily (10 mg/kg) for three weeks, did not change the number of opioid binding sites in the forebrain of the rat. Chronic electroconvulsive shock, given twice a week for three weeks, had no effect on the number of opioid binding sites in the forebrain of the rat. The data do not support the hypothesis of shared effects of lithium, tricyclic antidepressants and electroconvulsive shock on the opioid peptide-opioid receptor systems.
D000818:Animals; D001345:Autoradiography; D001923:Brain Chemistry / Q000187:drug effects*; D003891:Desipramine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004597:Electroshock; D004745:Enkephalins / Q000378:metabolism; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D011957:Receptors, Opioid / Q000187:drug effects*
D004745:Enkephalins; D011957:Receptors, Opioid; D003891:Desipramine