μ opioid receptor, social behaviour and autism spectrum disorder: reward matters

• Published in: British journal of pharmacology Vol. 175; no. 14; pp. 2750 - 2769
• Main Authors: Pellissier, Lucie P, Gandía, Jorge, Laboute, Thibaut, Becker, Jérôme A J, Le Merrer, Julie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Wiley 01.07.2018; John Wiley and Sons Inc
• Subjects: Animals; Autism Spectrum Disorder - metabolism; Humans; Life Sciences; Other; Receptors, Opioid, mu - genetics; Receptors, Opioid, mu - metabolism; Review; Reward; Social Behavior; Themed Section: Review; comportement social; récepteur opioide; autisme; kanner s syndrome; social behaviour
• ISSN: 0007-1188; 1476-5381; 1476-5381
• DOI: 10.1111/bph.13808

The endogenous opioid system is well known to relieve pain and underpin the rewarding properties of most drugs of abuse. Among opioid receptors, the μ receptor mediates most of the analgesic and rewarding properties of opioids. Based on striking similarities between social distress, physical pain and opiate withdrawal, μ receptors have been proposed to play a critical role in modulating social behaviour in humans and animals. This review summarizes experimental data demonstrating such role and proposes a novel model, the μ opioid receptor balance model, to account for the contribution of μ receptors to the subtle regulation of social behaviour. Interestingly, μ receptor null mice show behavioural deficits similar to those observed in patients with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), including severe impairment in social interactions. Therefore, after a brief summary of recent evidence for blunted (social) reward processes in subjects with ASD, we review here arguments for altered μ receptor function in this pathology. This article is part of a themed section on Emerging Areas of Opioid Pharmacology. To view the other articles in this section visit http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.v175.14/issuetoc