Effect of rat parental morphine exposure on passive avoidance memory and morphine conditioned place preference in male offspring

Publication date: 1 February 2018 Source:Physiology & Behavior, Volume 184 Author(s): Ardeshir Akbarabadi, Saba Niknamfar, Nasim Vousooghi, Mitra-Sadat Sadat-Shirazi, Heidar Toolee, Mohammad-Reza Zarrindast Drug addiction is a chronic disorder resulted from complex interaction of genetic, environmental, and developmental factors. Epigenetic mechanisms play an important role in the development and maintenance of addiction and also memory formation in the brain. We have examined passive avoidance memory and morphine conditioned place preference (CPP) in the offspring of male and/or female rats with a history of adulthood morphine consumption. Adult male and female animals received chronic oral morphine for 21days and then were maintained drug free for 10days. After that, they were let to mate with either an abstinent or control rat. Male offspring's memory was evaluated by step through test. Besides, rewarding effects of morphine were checked with CCP paradigm. Offspring of abstinent animals showed significant memory impairment compared to the control group which was more prominent in the offspring of abstinent females. Conditioning results showed that administration of a high dose of morphine (10mg/kg) that could significantly induce CPP in control rats, was not able to induce similar results in the offspring of morphine abstinent parents; and CPP was much more prominent when it was induced in the offspring of morphine exposed females compared to the progeny of...
Source: Physiology and Behavior - Category: Physiology Source Type: research