BAM-18: analgesia, hyperalgesia and locomotor effects

■ REVIEW : ORL-1: An Awkward Child of the Opioid Receptor Family

The cloning of the δ-opioid receptor allowed for the rapid cloning of the two other classically defined opioid receptors, the μ- and κ-opioid receptors. However, several groups cloned a fourth receptor (ORL-1, for opioid receptor-like) that had high homology to the opioid receptors but did not bind any known endogenous opioid peptides (i.e., endorphins) or exogenous opiates. Recently, two independent groups isolated a 17- amino-acid peptide that is an endogenous ligand for ORL-1; one group named it orphanin FQ (OFQ), the other named it nociceptin (N). It was reported that intracerebroventricular administration of this heptadeca peptide (OFQ/N) in mice induced an increased responsiveness to painful stimuli, an effect in striking contrast to the analgesia that is a hallmark of classical opiate drugs. Further research has revealed that OFQ/N has complex effects on pain perception: OFQ/N has been touted as having analgesic, hyperalgesic, and anti opioid properties. In addition to discussing these disparate findings, this review highlights the structural and pharmacological parallels between ORL-1 and opioid receptors as well as their respective endogenous ligands. NEUROSCIENTIST 4:172-184, 1998

A quantitative peptidomic analysis of peptides related to the endogenous opioid and tachykinin systems in nucleus accumbens of rats following naloxone-precipitated morphine withdrawal

We have applied a recently developed label-free mass spectrometry based peptidomic approach to identify and quantify a variety of endogenous peptides from rat nucleus accumbens following withdrawal in naloxone-precipitated, morphine-dependent rats of two separate strains. We focused on maturated, partially processed and truncated peptides derived from the peptide precursors proenkephalin, prodynorphin and preprotachykinin. The expression of several identified peptides was dependent on strain and was affected during morphine withdrawal.

Endogenous opioids and oligodendroglial function: possible autocrine/paracrine effects on cell survival and development

Previous work has shown that oligodendrocytes (OLs) express both micro- and kappa-opioid receptors. In developing OLs, micro receptor activation increases OL proliferation, while the kappa-antagonist nor-binaltorphimine (NorBNI) affects OL differentiation. Because exogenous opioids were not present in our defined culture medium, we hypothesized that NorBNI blocked endogenous opioids produced by the OLs themselves. To test this, intact and partially processed proenkephalin and prodynorphin-derived peptides were assessed in OLs using immunocytochemistry or Western blot analysis, or both. Immature OLs possessed large amounts of intact and partially processed proenkephalin precursors, as well as posttranslational products of prodynorphin including dynorphin A (1-17). With maturation, however, intact or partially processed proenkephalin was expressed by only about 50% of OLs, while dynorphin A (1-17) was undetectable. To assess the function of OL-derived opioids, the effect of kappa-agonists/antagonists on OL differentiation and death was explored. kappa-Agonists alone had no effect. In contrast, NorBNI significantly increased OL death. Additive OL losses were evident when NorBNI was paired with toxic levels of glutamate, suggesting that kappa-receptor blockade alone is sufficient to induce OL death. Thus, the results indicate that OLs express proenkephalin and prodynorphin peptides in a developmentally regulated manner, and further suggest that opioids produced by OLs modulate OL maturation and survival through local (i.e., autocrine and/or paracrine) mechanisms.

Absence of appreciable tolerance and morphine cross-tolerance in rats with adrenal medullary transplants in the spinal cord

Adrenal medullary transplants in the spinal subarachnoid space may be a means of achieving sustained local delivery of pain-reducing neuroactive substances on a continually renewable basis. However, a potential limitation of this approach is tolerance development to agents released from the transplanted cells. In particular, since adrenal medullary chromaffin cells release opioid peptides, reduced antinociceptive efficacy of opioids is possible. To determine this, alterations in the dose-effectiveness of morphine were assessed in animals with adrenal medullary transplants. Results indicated that, not only was there no apparent tolerance, but that adrenal medullary transplants could potentiate the analgesic efficacy of morphine. An additional goal of these studies was to determine whether chronic or intermittent nicotine could produce increased antinociception, since stimulation of cell surface nicotinic receptors increases release of neuroactive substances from chromaffin cells. This was assessed using subcutaneously implanted nicotine pellets or repeated systemic administration of nicotine. Findings indicated that exposure to nicotine results in an acute tolerance, or tachyphylaxis, to nicotine which is rapidly reversed following cessation of nicotinic stimulation. Together, these results suggest that adrenal medullary transplants may provide a constant source of opioid peptides, augmentable by intermittent nicotinic stimulation, without the development of appreciable tolerance to these pain-reducing neuroactive substances.

Characterization of opioid binding sites in the neural and intermediate lobe of the rat pituitary gland by quantitative receptor autoradiography

Previous studies have suggested an involvement of enkephalins in regulation of oxytocin (OXT) and vasopressin (AVP) release, which seems to disagree with the very low affinities of Met- and Leu-enkephalin for the kappa opioid receptor. As opioid receptors in the neural lobe exclusively exist of kappa receptors, we studied the binding characteristics of larger pro-enkephalin derived peptides for opioid binding sites in the neural lobe by means of light microscopic receptor autoradiography. In addition, the pharmacological characteristics of opioid binding sites in the neural lobe were compared with those in other parts of the pituitary. In the neural as well as the intermediate lobe both high and low affinity 3H-bremazocine binding sites were present. Binding to these sites was completely displaceable by both naloxone and nor-binaltorphimine suggesting that these sites represent kappa opioid receptors. Also with regard to selectivity and affinity characteristics to other ligands, opioid binding sites in the neural and intermediate lobe were quite similar. In the anterior lobe a very low level of bremazocine binding was present, which could not be displaced by nor-binaltorphimine. Displacement studies with pro-enkephalin and pro-dynorphin derived peptides showed that both groups of peptides could bind to opioid binding sites in the neural and intermediate lobe. Especially the relatively large pro-dynorphin and pro-enkephalin derived peptides, such as dynorphin 1-17 and BAM22, appeared to be very potent ligands for these opioid binding sites and were much more potent than smaller fragments, such as dynorphin 1-8, and Met- and Leu-enkephalin. These results contradict the existence of a mismatch in the neural (and intermediate) lobe with regard to the local type of opioid peptides and receptors present.

Intrathecal and epidural somatostatin in rats: can antinociception, motor effects and neurotoxicity be separated?

In the present investigation, the antinociceptive, motor blocking and neurotoxic effects of intrathecal and epidural somatostatin (SST) were assessed in rats implanted with lumbar intrathecal and epidural catheters. The doses studied were 5, 7.5, 10, 12.5 and 15 micrograms intrathecally and 100, 250, 400 and 500 micrograms epidurally. It appears that if the intrathecal doses of SST are kept below 15 micrograms and the epidural doses below 250 micrograms, the prolonged tail-flick latency can be separated from the transient motor blockade. The antinociception appears not to be attributable to neurotoxicity by the histological evidence available.