Journal
EXPERIMENTAL AND THERAPEUTIC MEDICINE
Volume 16, Issue 3, Pages 2392-2398Publisher
SPANDIDOS PUBL LTD
DOI: 10.3892/etm.2018.6514
Keywords
1 opioid receptor; promoter; methylation; heroin; methamphetamine; addiction
Categories
Funding
- National Key R&D Program of China [2017YFC1310400]
- Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang [LY18H090008]
- Ningbo Natural Science Foundation [2017A610217, 2017A04]
- Nature Science Foundation of China [81371469]
- K.C. Wong Magna Fund of Ningbo University
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Heroin and methamphetamine (METH) addiction continues to be a major social, economic and therapeutic problem worldwide. The opioid pathway may mediate the effects of addictive drugs. However, the potential correlation between the 1 opioid receptor (OPRK1) and drug addiction has not yet been characterized. The aim of the present study was to investigate the potential association between methylation of the OPRK1 promoter and substance abuse. Bisulfite pyrosequencing technology was used to determine the levels of OPRK1 promoter methylation in 60 drug abusers (30 heroin and 30 METH addicts) and 52 controls, observed to exhibit no significant differences in age or gender. The results indicated that levels of OPRK1 promoter methylation were significantly higher in drug addicts when compared with controls (P=2.43x10(-4)). Significant correlations between OPRK1 promoter methylation and the length and frequency of drug use were also observed in male heroin addicts (length: r=0.661, P=0.007; frequency: r=-0.684, P=0.005). In addition, a luciferase reporter gene assay indicated that the OPRK1 promoter fragment was able to regulate gene expression (fold change between two groups >32.12, P0.0001). In conclusion, results of the present study indicate that methylation of the OPRK1 promoter contributes to the pathophysiology of drug addiction.
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