title: μ opioid receptor, social behaviour and autism spectrum disorder: reward matters.
abstract: The endogenous opioid system is well known to relieve pain and underpin the rewarding properties of most drugs of abuse. Among opioid receptors, the μ receptor mediates most of the analgesic and rewarding properties of opioids. Based on striking similarities between social distress, physical pain and opiate withdrawal, μ receptors have been proposed to play a critical role in modulating social behaviour in humans and animals. This review summarizes experimental data demonstrating such role and proposes a novel model, the μ opioid receptor balance model, to account for the contribution of μ receptors to the subtle regulation of social behaviour. Interestingly, μ receptor null mice show behavioural deficits similar to those observed in patients with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), including severe impairment in social interactions. Therefore, after a brief summary of recent evidence for blunted (social) reward processes in subjects with ASD, we review here arguments for altered μ receptor function in this pathology. This article is part of a themed section on Emerging Areas of Opioid Pharmacology. To view the other articles in this section visit http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.v175.14/issuetoc.
authors.affiliation: Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements, INRA UMR-0085, CNRS UMR-7247, Université de Tours Rabelais, IFCE, Inserm, Nouzilly, France.
authors.forename: Lucie P
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-7085-3242
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Pellissier
authors.affiliation: Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements, INRA UMR-0085, CNRS UMR-7247, Université de Tours Rabelais, IFCE, Inserm, Nouzilly, France.
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-1711-8075
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gandía
authors.affiliation: Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements, INRA UMR-0085, CNRS UMR-7247, Université de Tours Rabelais, IFCE, Inserm, Nouzilly, France.
authors.forename: Thibaut
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-0870-1891
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Laboute
authors.affiliation: Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements, INRA UMR-0085, CNRS UMR-7247, Université de Tours Rabelais, IFCE, Inserm, Nouzilly, France.
authors.forename: Jérôme A J
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-0039-0067
authors.initials: JAJ
authors.lastname: Becker
authors.affiliation: Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements, INRA UMR-0085, CNRS UMR-7247, Université de Tours Rabelais, IFCE, Inserm, Nouzilly, France.
authors.forename: Julie
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-8670-4273
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Le Merrer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D017450:Receptors, Opioid, mu / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D012201:Reward; D012919:Social Behavior
chemical_list: D017450:Receptors, Opioid, mu