Churruca Itziar, Portillo María P, Zumalabe José María, Macarulla María T, Sáenz Del Burgo Laura, Zarate Jon, Echevarría Enrique
Department of Nutrition and Food Science, Faculty of Pharmacy University of the Basque Country, Vitoria, Spain.
Int J Neurosci. 2006 Mar;116(3):289-98. doi: 10.1080/00207450500403231.
The aim of this article was to describe the effects of chronic fluoxetine on mu opioid receptor expression in obese Zucker rat extrahypothalamic regions. Male obese Zucker (fa/fa) rats were administered with fluoxetine (10 mg/kg; i.p.) daily for two weeks. Brain regional immunostaining for mu opioid receptor was carried out. An increase in the numbers of neural cells immunostained for mu opioid receptor in caudatus-putamen, dentate gyrus, lateral septum, amygdala, and frontal, parietal, and piriform cortices was observed. Increased mu opioid receptor expression in the central amygdaloid nuclei suggests a decreased opioidergic tone at this level that could be involved in fluoxetine anorectic action.
