{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,15]],"date-time":"2026-05-15T01:29:32Z","timestamp":1778808572799,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":55,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,8,30]],"date-time":"2022-08-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1661817600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000026","name":"National Institute on Drug Abuse","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["ZIADA000595"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["ZIADA000595"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000026","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Neural Circuits"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Dysregulation of body weight maintenance and opioid dependence are often treated as independent disorders. Here, we assessed the effects of both acute and long-term administration of morphine with and without chemogenetic activation of agouti-related peptide (AGRP)-expressing neurons in the arcuate nucleus (ARC<jats:sup>AGRP<\/jats:sup> neurons) to elucidate whether morphine and neuronal activation affect feeding behavior and body weight. First, we characterized interactions of opioids and energy deficit in wild-type mice. We observed that opioid administration attenuated both fasting-induced refeeding and ghrelin-stimulated feeding. Moreover, antagonism of opioid receptors blocked fasting-induced refeeding behavior. Next, we interfaced chemogenetics with opioid dependence. For chemogenetic experiments of ARC<jats:sup>AGRP<\/jats:sup> neurons, we conducted <jats:italic>a priori<\/jats:italic> behavioral qualification and post-mortem FOS immunostaining verification of arcuate activation following ARC<jats:sup>AGRP<\/jats:sup> chemogenetic activation. We administered clozapine during short-term and long-term morphine administration paradigms to determine the effects of dependence on food intake and body weight. We found that morphine occluded feeding behavior characteristic of chemogenetic activation of ARC<jats:sup>AGRP<\/jats:sup> neurons. Notably, activation of ARC<jats:sup>AGRP<\/jats:sup> neurons attenuated opioid-induced weight loss but did not evoke weight gain during opioid dependence. Consistent with these findings, we observed that morphine administration did not block fasting-induced activation of the ARC. Together, these results highlight the strength of opioidergic effects on body weight maintenance and demonstrate the utility of ARC<jats:sup>AGRP<\/jats:sup> neuron manipulations as a lever to influence energy balance throughout the development of opioid dependence.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fncir.2022.977642","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,8,30]],"date-time":"2022-08-30T09:22:59Z","timestamp":1661851379000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":10,"title":["Regulation of body weight and food intake by AGRP neurons during opioid dependence and abstinence in mice"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Brenton T.","family":"Laing","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Aishwarya","family":"Jayan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Lydia J.","family":"Erbaugh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Anika S.","family":"Park","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Danielle J.","family":"Wilson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yeka","family":"Aponte","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,8,30]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"133","DOI":"10.1016\/0014-2999(91)90214-b","article-title":"Profound depression of mesolimbic dopamine release after morphine withdrawal in dependent rats.","volume":"193","author":"Acquas","year":"1991","journal-title":"Eur. 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