Antidepressive effects of the κ-opioid receptor agonist salvinorin A in a rat model of anhedonia.
Behavioural Pharmacology October 1, 2012 Mitchell T Harden, Staci E Smith, Jennifer A Niehoff et al. 37 citations
Salvinorin A (SalvA), the hallucinogenic derivative of the plant Salvia divinorum, is a selective κ-opioid receptor agonist that may also have antidepressant properties. Chronic mild stress (CMS) was applied to male and female Long-Evans rats to model anhedonia common in depression. The progressive loss in preference for a sucrose solution over plain water, a measure of anhedonia, and locomotor...