Rebound increase of basal cAMP level in NG108-15 cells during chronic morphine treatment: effects of naloxone and chloramphenicol.

The effects of morphine on the basal cAMP level in the neuroblastoma X glioma NG108-15 hybrid cell line have been studied. Morphine (10 microM) added to the incubation media at hr 0 caused a rapid and significant decrease in the cAMP level up to hr 1; the level then slowly returned to the control at hr 6, and gradually increased to its peak at hr 36, returning to the control at hr 60. These results provide the first evidence for a delayed rebound increase of cAMP during morphine treatment. Naloxone (10 microM) added at hr 0 concomitantly with morphine blocked the morphine-induced decrease in cAMP level at hr 1 and attenuated its increase at hr 36. However, when naloxone was added at hr 5.5, the cAMP level significantly increased at hr 6, and at hr 36 the cAMP level increase was the same as in the case of morphine alone. Furthermore when naloxone was added 0.5 hr prior to harvesting the cells at hr 6, 12, 24 and 36, the cAMP level showed an immediate increase at each time point up to about the same level as observed with morphine alone at hr 36. Chloramphenicol, a protein synthesis inhibitor (100 microM) itself caused little or no change in the cAMP level. Added 30 min before morphine, chloramphenicol decreased the morphine-induced rebound increase at hr 36 in a concentration-dependent manner without any significant effect on cAMP decrease at hr 1. However when chloramphenicol was added at hr 5.5, the morphine-induced rebound increase at hr 36 was also attenuated, thereby suggesting an involvement of macromolecular synthesis in the rebound increase of cAMP which may be used as a model for the development of morphine dependence.