The locus coeruleus (LC) as a target of addictive drugs receives a dense projection of orexinergic fibres from the lateral hypothalamus (LH) and is accordingly a candidate site for the expression of the somatic aspects of morphine withdrawal. Recently it has been shown that the inhibitory synaptic currents of LC neurons decrease partly through orexin type 1 receptors in the context of naloxone-induced morphine withdrawal; however, its cellular mechanism remains unclear. In this study, whole-cell patch clamp recordings of LC neurons in brainstem slices were used to investigate the impact of protein kinase C (PKC) on GABAergic inhibitory post-synaptic currents (IPSCs) in the context of naloxone-induced morphine withdrawal. Male Wistar rats (P14-P21) received morphine (20 mg/kg, i.p.) daily for 7 consecutive days to induce morphine dependency. Our results showed that the application of PKC inhibitor (Go 6983; 1 µM) alone did not decrease the probability of GABA release in the LC neurons of the morphine-treated rats in the presence of naloxone. Although, Go 6983 reversed the reduction of the amplitude of evoked IPSCs (eIPSCs) and spontaneous IPSCs (sIPSCs) frequency induced by orexin-A but did not change the sIPSCs amplitude. These results indicate that the suppressive effect of orexin-A on IPSCs is probably reversed by PKC inhibitor in the LC neurons of morphine-treated rats in the context of naloxone withdrawal.
Keywords: GABAA-IPSCs; Locus coeruleus; Naloxone-induced morphine withdrawal; Orexin type 1 receptor; PKC inhibitor.