Chronic ethanol consumption in rats produces opioid antinociceptive tolerance through inhibition of mu opioid receptor endocytosis.

ABSTRACT: It is well known that the mu-opioid receptor (MOR) plays an important role in the rewarding properties of ethanol. However, it is less clear how chronic ethanol consumption affects MOR signaling. Here, we demonstrate that rats with prolonged voluntary ethanol consumption develop antinociceptive tolerance to opioids. Signaling through the MOR is controlled at many levels, including via the process of endocytosis. Importantly, agonists at the MOR that promote receptor endocytosis, such as the endogenous peptides enkephalin and β-endorphin, show a reduced propensity to promote antinociceptive tolerance than do agonists, like morphine, which do not promote receptor endocytosis. These observations led us to examine whether chronic ethanol consumption produced opioid tolerance by interfering wit

SUBMITTER: He L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3094338 | biostudies-literature | 2011

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature