OPIOID TREATMENT OF PREGNANT RATS RESULTS IN ABNORMAL OFFSPRING BRAIN MYELINATION

EMILSE S. SANCHEZ; SUSAN E. ROBINSON; JOHN W. BIGBEE; ROCHELLE P. COELHO; ANGELA F. BRITTON'; CARMEN SATO-BIGBEE

Congreso; American Society for Neurochemistry Annual Meeting; 2006

The partial opioid agonist buprenorphine is used in the management of pregnant opioid addicts but opioid exposure in utero has been associated with behavioral and neurological defects in children. The mechanisms responsible for these effects are poorly understood but it is logical to hypothesize that buprenorphine by itself and/or interference with endogenous opioid systems may affect crucial steps along nervous system development. In the present study we have investigated the possible effect of perinatal opioid exposure to buprenorphine on brain myelination. For this, rat pups were pre- and postnatally exposed beginning on gestational day 7, via maternally implanted minipumps, to water (controls) or different concentrations of buprenorphine. Analysis at different postnatal ages of the myelin-sphingolipids galactocerebrosides and sulfatides, myelin basic protein (MBP) splicing isoforms and 2'-3'-cyclic nucleotide 3'-phosphodiesterase expression as well as the pattern of glycosylation of the myelin associated glycoprotein (MAG), indicate that buprenorphine treatment significantly alters the myelination process. These results show for the first time that opioid signaling play an important role in regulating myelination in vivo and underscore the importance of further studies investigating the link between neurological problems and opioid-related mechanisms in the children from addict mothers.