Immunohistochemical Analyses Of Changes In The Protein Expression Of PKA-α And PKA-β As Well As Tau And PHF-1 In Four Brain Areas Of Adult Female Rats With Heroin-Addiction

Objective To mimic the clinical patterns for human heroin- abusers, the animal models of heroin addiction were established so as to explore the changes of the PKA-α(cAMP-dependent protein kinase-α)and PKA-β(cAMP- dependent protein kinase-β) as well as Tau(S396) and PHF-1(paried helical filaments-1)in the cortex of frontal lobes and nucleus accumbens as well as hippocampus and amygdaloid nuclei. Method By using of gradual increase of heroin dosages, adult female Sprague - Dawley rats were given subcutaneous injections of heroin and the rat models with heroin addiction were made. The protein expressions patterns of PKA-α, PKA-β, Tau(S396)and PHF-1 in the cortex of frontal lobes, nucleus accumbens, hippocampus, and amygdaloid nuclei of the heroin- addicted rats were detected by utilizng immunohistochemistry. Result The numbers of the positive cells of PKA-αand PK A-βas well as Tau(S396) and PHF-1 in the cortex of frontal lobe, nucleus accumbens, hippocampus, and amygdaloid nuclei of the heroin– addicted rats were significantly higher than those of the control group rats (P<0.01). Conclusion The increasing amount of PKA-αand PKA -β, the overphosphorylation in the 396 suits of Tau protein and the formation of PHFs commonly exist in the cells of the above four brain regions, indicating that these abnormal changes may be a neuropathologic basis for showing the clinical symptoms of long heroin abusers.