Autoradiographic Evidence of Delta-Opioid Receptor Downregulation after Prenatal Stress in Offspring Rat Brain

In order to visualize neuroanatomical alterations in specific brain regions, light microscopy autoradiography was carried out on offsprings (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 decreases in delta-opioid receptor density in different hypothalamic regions. The decrease in delta-opioid receptor density was less marked in groups 1 and 3 whereas there was no modification in group 4. Present data suggest that the prenatal stress induces a downregulation of delta-receptors in different hypothalamic regions.