Autoradiographic evidence of mu-opioid receptors down-regulation after prenatal stress in offspring rat brain.

In order to visualize neuroanatomical alterations in specific brain regions, light microscopy autoradiography was carried out on offspring (postnatal day 10) from female rats stressed in different periods of gestation and controls. Group 1 was subjected to restraint stress from day 2 to 6; group 2, from day 7 to 11; group 3, from day 12 to 16; group 4, from day 2 to 16. Group 2 showed pronounce decreases in mu-opioid receptor density in different brain regions. The decrease in mu-opioid receptor density was less marked in the group 1, 3 and 4. Present data suggest that the prenatal stress induce down-regulation of mu-receptors in different brain regions.