Mu-, delta-, kappa- and epsilon-opioid receptor modulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis: subchronic tolerance studies of endogenous opioid peptides

Chronic administration of U50,488H fails to produce hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis tolerance in neonatal rats

The present study investigated the effect of chronic administration of a kappa opioid receptor agonist on the function of kappa and mu opioid, serotonergic and cholinergic regulation of secretion from the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis in neonatal rats. After chronic treatment with saline or U50,488H (trans-(+/-)-3,4-dichloro-N-methyl-N-[2-(1-pyrrolidinyl)cyclohexyl]- benzeneacetamide methane sulfonate), a kappa opioid receptor agonist and subsequent pharmacological challenge, corticosterone (CS) in serum was determined. Kappa tolerance did not develop in pups treated on postnatal days 5-9 with increasing doses of U50,488H (0.5-2.5 mg/kg). When the rats were treated with the same chronic regimen of U50,488H at different stages of development from birth through weaning, only weanling rats became tolerant to U50,488H. In the absence of measurable kappa tolerance, the responses of corticosterone in serum to morphine, quipazine, a serotonin receptor agonist and physostigmine, an inhibitor of acetylcholinesterase, were attenuated in neonatal rats, treated with U50,488H. These studies suggest that kappa tolerance is more difficult to induce in developing rats than in adults and that regulation of the function of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis by other neurotransmitter systems is altered by treatment with kappa opioid receptor agonists, even in the apparent absence of tolerance.

Plasma beta-endorphin and cortisol levels in morphine-tolerant rats and in naloxone-induced withdrawal

The relationship between morphine tolerance and pituitary-adrenocortical activity was examined. In rats made tolerant to morphine by implantation of morphine-containing pellets, there was a significant reduction in plasma levels of beta-endorphin-like immunoreactivity (beta-END-LI), whereas no significant changes in cortisol levels were seen. Naloxone treatment induced an increase in plasma beta-END-LI and cortisol levels in morphine-tolerant animals. Additionally, acute morphine administration induced an increase in plasma levels of beta-END-LI and cortisol, an effect which was prevented by naloxone. These results are consistent with an increased release of pro-opiomelanocortin-derived peptides after acute morphine and with a decreased release of these peptides in tolerant rats, and suggest that opioid peptides play an important role in the regulation of pituitary-adrenocortical function.

Opiate control of spontaneous locomotor activity in a urodele amphibian

An intraperitoneal injection of the preferential opiate receptor agonist (+/-) bremazocine HCl given to male rough-skinned newts acutely and dose-dependently reduced their spontaneous locomotor activity. Inversely, and contrary to the situation generally observed in other vertebrates, administration of the opiate receptor antagonist naloxone HCl dose-dependently and acutely stimulated locomotion. Given at a behaviorally active dosage, naloxone counteracted the inhibitory effect of bremazocine on locomotion. The behavioral influence of the two substances was observed using two different sampling techniques (continuous recording for 3 minutes: repeated instantaneous sampling for 60 minutes). These data are discussed in view of our current knowledge on the opiate regulation of locomotor activity in vertebrates.

Stimulation of kappa opiate receptors in intestinal wall affects stress-induced increase of plasma cortisol in dogs

In dogs, an acoustic stress (A.S.) produced by hearing of intense music (less than or equal to 90 dB) through earpieces for 1 h induced a 520% maximal rise in plasma cortisol 15-30 min after the beginning of stress. Oral administration of the specific kappa agonists, U-50488 (0.1 mg/kg) and PD 117302 (0.05 mg/kg), 30 min before the A.S. session reduced significantly (P less than 0.01) by 71.2% and 80.9% the maximal increase of plasma cortisol but did not affect the increase observed after intracerebroventricular administration of ovineCRF (100 ng/kg). These effects which are not reproduced by intravenous administration of the drugs at similar doses, were blocked by previous treatment with MR 2266 (0.1 mg/kg) or local anesthesia and vagotomy, suggesting that kappa opioid agonists inhibit the stress-induced activation of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) system by acting selectively on specific receptors located in the wall of the proximal gut.

Naltrexone blocks the expression of the conditioned elevation of natural killer cell activity in BALB/c mice

An elevation of natural killer (NK) cell activity was conditioned by the association of a camphor odor conditioning stimulus (CS) with an injection of 20 micrograms polyinosinic:poly-cytidylic acid (poly I:C), the unconditioned stimulus (US). Poly I:C elicits the production and secretion of interferon (IFN), which induces an increase in NK cell activity. Reexposure to the CS occurred on Days 3 and 5 after the association trial on Day 0. Immediately following the CS exposure on Day 5, 1 microgram poly I:C was administered to all animals. This procedure resulted in an increased NK cell activity in the conditioned (CND), but not the nonconditioned (NC), mice. In this study we have shown that the expression of the conditioned response was blocked by an injection of naltrexone (NTX) at 10 mg/kg ip when given immediately prior to the two test CS odor exposures. Peripheral treatment (ip) with a quaternary form of naltrexone (QNTX), which is a less potent opiate antagonist, at the same dose and at the same time relative to the CS odor reexposure did not block the conditioned response. The formation of the conditioned association did not appear to be disrupted by NTX at the 10 mg/kg dose when given immediately prior to the trial odor exposure on Day 0. No modulation of NK cell activity was observed in any of the control groups treated with naltrexone or the quaternary analog. Because of the inability of the QNTX to block the conditioned response, we hypothesize that the opiate receptors involved in the conditioned response and blocked by NTX were within the central nervous system (CNS). Whether this response is peripherally or centrally mediated, we have shown that opiate receptors represent part of the mechanism which mediates the conditioned augmentation of NK cell activity.

Modulation of mesolimbic dopaminergic projections by beta-endorphin in the rat

Intracerebroventricular injection of beta-endorphin stimulated the metabolism of dopamine in a dose-dependent, opiate antagonist-reversible manner. Local injections into the nucleus accumbens also caused similar increases, indicating that the actions of this peptide on mesolimbic dopaminergic projections were occurring at opioid receptor sites within the nucleus accumbens. Tolerance experiments suggested that epsilon opioid receptors may be involved in mediating these effects in the n. accumbens, unlike in the striatum.