The effect of morphine on rat microglial phagocytic activity: an in vitro study of brain region-, plating density-, sex-, morphine concentration-, and receptor-dependency

ABSTRACT Opioids have long been used for clinical pain management, but also have addictive properties that have contributed to the ongoing opioid epidemic. While opioid activation of opioid receptors is well known to contribute to reward and reinforcement, data now also suggest that opioid activation of immune signaling via toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) may also play a role in addiction-like processes. TLR4 expression is enriched in immune cells, and in the nervous system is primarily expressed in microglia. Microglial phagocytosis is important for developmental, homeostatic, and pathological processes. To examine how morphine impacts microglial phagocytosis, we isolated microglia from adult male and female rat cortex and striatum and plated them in vitro at 10,000 (10K) or 50,000 cells/well densities. Microglia were incubated with neutral fluorescent microbeads to stimulate phagocytosis in the presence of one of four morphine concentrations. We found that the brain region from which microglia are isolated and plating density, but not morphine concentration, impact cell survival in vitro . We found that 10 - 12 M morphine, but not higher concentrations, increases phagocytosis in striatal microglia in vitro independent of sex and plating density, while 10 -12 M morphine increased phagocytosis in cortical microglia in vitro independent of sex, but contingent on plating density. Finally, we demonstrate that the effect of 10 -12 M morphine in striatal microglia plated at 10K density is mediated via TLR4, and not µORs. Overall, our data suggest that in rats, a morphine-TLR4 signaling pathway increases phagocytic activity in microglia independent of sex. This may be useful information for better understanding the possible neural outcomes associated with morphine exposures.