β-Arrestin 2 dependence of δ opioid receptor agonists is correlated with alcohol intake.

ABSTRACT:

Background and purpose

δ Opioid receptor agonists are being developed as potential treatments for depression and alcohol use disorders. This is particularly interesting as depression is frequently co-morbid with alcohol use disorders. Yet we have previously shown that δ receptor agonists range widely in their ability to modulate alcohol intake; certain δ receptor agonists actually increase alcohol consumption in mice. We propose that variations in β-arrestin 2 recruitment contribute to the differential behavioural profile of δ receptor agonists.

Experimental approach

We used three diarylmethylpiperazine-based non-peptidic δ receptor selective agonists (SNC80, SNC162 and ARM390) and three structurally diverse δ receptor agonists (TAN-67, KNT127 and NIH11082). We tested these

SUBMITTER: Chiang T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4940619 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature