Morphine Antidependence ofErythroxylum cuneatum(Miq.) Kurz in Neurotransmission ProcessesIn Vitro

Abstract

Opiate abuse has been studied to cause adaptive changes observed in the presynaptic release and the mediated-synaptic plasticity proteins. The involvement of neuronal SNARE proteins reveals the role of the neurotransmitter release in expressing the opioid actions. The present study was designed to determine the effect of the alkaloid extract ofErythroxylum cuneatum(E. cuneatum) against chronic morphine and the influences ofE. cuneatumon neurotransmission processes observedin vitro. The human neuroblastoma cell line, SK-N-SH, was treated with the morphine, methadone, orE. cuneatum. The cell lysates were collected and tested forα-synuclein, calmodulin, vesicle-associated membrane protein 2 (VAMP 2), and synaptotagmin 1. The extract ofE. cuneatumwas observed to upregulate the decreased expression of dependence proteins, namely,α-synuclein and calmodulin. The effects were comparable to methadone and control. The expressions of VAMP 2 and synaptotagmin 1 were normalised by the plant and methadone. The extract ofE. cuneatumwas postulated to treat dependence symptoms after chronic morphine and improve the soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor activating protein receptor (SNARE) protein involved in synaptic vesicle after.