Changes in c-fos and p-CREB signaling following exposure to forced swim stress or exogenous corticosterone during morphine-induced place preference are dependent on glucocorticoid receptor in the basolateral amygdala

Abstract

Neural circuitry comprising the nucleus accumbens (NAc), prefrontal cortex (PFC), amygdala (AMY), and hippocampus (HIP) are the main components of the reward circuit. Our previous behavioral data showed that forced swim stress (FSS) and corticosterone administration could inhibit the acquisition of morphine-induced conditioned place preference (CPP), and this effect was blocked by intra-basolateral amygdala (BLA) administration of RU38486, glucocorticoid receptor (GR) antagonist. Therefore, we tried to evaluate the effect of intra-BLA administration of the GR antagonist during the conditioning phase on the c-fos and p-CREB/CREB ratio expression in the AMY, NAc, PFC, and HIP of rats that underwent FSS or received exogenous corticosterone (10 mg/kg; i.p.) before morphine injection (5 mg/kg; s.c.) during 3 conditioning days. Our results showed that morphine-induced CPP could increase c-fos level and p-CREB/CREB ratio in all regions (except in the HIP). In addition, c-fos expression was elevated by FSS in all regions and blockade of GR decreased this effect. In the PFC, in addition to FSS, corticosterone could raise c-fos expression, which was blocked by RU38486. In conclusion, it seems that the intra-BLA administration of RU38486 differently modulates the effect of morphine-induced CPP on the expression of c-fos and p-CREB/CREB ratio in animals that underwent FSS or corticosterone administration.