Long-term effects on brain opioid and opioid receptor like-1 receptors after short periods of maternal separation in rats.

Short periods of maternal separation of neonatal rats are known to induce attenuated behavioural and neuroendocrine responses to stress in adult life. The present study was carried out to evaluate whether 15 min separation from the dam during postnatal days 1-21 (MS15) can induce long-term changes in brain opioid (kappa- and delta-receptors) and opioid receptor-like 1 (ORL1) densities in male Sprague-Dawley rats. Receptor autoradiography indicated that MS15 rats had increased delta-receptor density in the basomedial amygdala compared to animal facility reared rats 2 months after MS15. No differences in brain kappa- or ORL1-receptor density were found. The results indicate that a manipulation early in life can induce persistent neurochemical changes in the delta-opioid receptor system, which suggests involvement of delta-opioid receptors in the altered emotional processing in these rats.