The role of stress in the etiology of depression has been largely reported. In this line, exogenous glucocorticoids are employed to mimic the influence of stress on the development of depression. The N/OFQ-NOP receptor system has been implicated in the modulation of stress and emotional behaviors. In fact, the blockade of NOP receptors induces antidepressant effects and increases resilience to acute stress. This study investigated the effects of the NOP receptor blockade on dexamethasone-treated mice exposed to acute and prolonged swimming stress. Swiss and NOP(+/+) and NOP(−/−) mice were treated with dexamethasone, and the protective effects of the NOP antagonist SB-612111 (10 mg/kg, ip) or imipramine (20 mg/kg, ip) were investigated in three swimming sessions. The re-exposure to swim stress increased immobility time in Swiss and NOP(+/+), but not in NOP(−/−) mice. Acute and repeated dexamethasone administration induced a further increase in the immobility time, and facilitated body weight loss in Swiss mice. Single administration of SB-612111, but not imipramine, prevented swimming stress- and dexamethasone-induced increase in the immobility time. Repeated administrations of SB-612111 prevented the deleterious effects of 5 days of dexamethasone treatment. Imipramine also partially prevented the effects of repeated glucocorticoid administration on the immobility time, but did not affect the body weight loss. NOP(−/−) mice were more resistant than NOP(+/+) mice to inescapable swimming stress, but not dexamethasone-induced increase in the immobility time and body weight loss. In conclusion, the blockade of the NOP receptor facilitates an active stress copying response and attenuates body weight loss due to repeated stress.

压力在抑郁症病因中的作用已被大量报道。在这一方面，采用外源糖皮质激素来模拟压力对抑郁症发展的影响。N / OFQ-NOP受体系统与压力和情绪行为的调节有关。实际上，NOP受体的阻滞诱导抗抑郁作用并增强了对急性应激的抵抗力。这项研究调查了NOP受体阻滞对地塞米松治疗的小鼠急性和长期游泳压力的影响。用地塞米松治疗Swiss和NOP（+ / +）和NOP（-/-）小鼠，并观察NOP拮抗剂SB-612111（10 mg / kg，ip）或丙咪嗪（20 mg / kg，ip）的保护作用在三个游泳课中进行了调查。游泳压力的再次暴露增加了瑞士人和NOP（+ / +）的不动时间，但不是在NOP（-/-）小鼠中。急性和反复地塞米松的使用引起了不动时间的进一步增加，并促进了瑞士小鼠的体重减轻。SB-612111的单次给药可预防游泳压力和地塞米松诱导的不动时间增加，但不能抑制丙咪嗪的时间。重复施用SB-612111可防止5天地塞米松治疗的有害作用。丙咪嗪还部分地防止了重复给予糖皮质激素对固定时间的影响，但并未影响体重减轻。NOP（-/-）小鼠比NOP（+ / +）小鼠对不可避免的游泳压力更有抵抗力，但对地塞米松诱导的不动时间和体重减轻没有抵抗力。结论，