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− Morphine is a potent analgesic with significant abuse potential, because of drug craving and psychological dependence. It is reported that repeated treatment of morphine can produce conditioned place preference (CPP) showing a reinforcing effect in mice. Previously, we have reported the inhibitory effect of the methanolic extract of Coptis japonica (MCJ) on morphine-induced CPP in mice. The present study was employed whether p-CREB expression is involved in the inhibitory effect of MCJ on the morphine-induced CPP in the mouse hippocampus. Repeated administration of MCJ 100 mg/kg inhibited morphine-induced CPP. Expression of p-CREB was increased in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus that had undergone morphineinduced CPP. This increase of expression was significantly inhibited by administration of MCJ 100 mg/kg, compared to the morphine control group. Taken together, these results suggest that MCJ inhibits morphine-induced CPP through the regulation of p-CREB expression in the mouse dentate gyrus of the hippocampus.

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