Martin D. Hynes

Fluoxetine, a selective inhibitor of serotonin uptake, potentiates morphine analgesia without altering its discriminative stimulus properties or affinity for opioid receptors

The analgesic effect of morphine in the rat tail jerk assay was enhanced by the serotonin uptake inhibitor, fluoxetine. Tail jerk latency was not affected by fluoxetine alone. Morphines affinity for opioid receptors labeled in vitro with 3H-naloxone or 3H-D-Ala2-D-Leu5-enkephalin was not altered by fluoxetine, which has no affinity for these sites at concentrations as high as 1000 nM. In rats trained to discriminate morphine from saline, fluoxetine at doses of 5 or 10 mg/kg were recognized as saline. Increasing the fluoxetine dose to 20 mg/kg did not result in generalization to either saline or morphine. The dose response curve for morphine generalization was not significantly altered by fluoxetine doses of 5 or 10 mg/kg. Those rats treated with the combination of morphine and 20 mg/kg of fluoxetine did not exhibit saline or morphine appropriate responding. Fluoxetine potentiates the analgesic properties of morphine without enhancing its affinity for opioid receptors or its discriminative stimulus properties.

Chronic ethanol alters the receptor binding characteristics of the delta opioid receptor ligand, DAla2DLeu5 enkephalin in mouse brain

The binding characteristics of the delta opioid receptor ligand, 3H-D-Ala2-D-Leu5 enkephalin, were markedly altered in brains obtained from mice fed an ethanol-containing diet for five days. Control mice exhibited both a high and low affinity site for 3H-D-Ala2-D-Leu5 enkephalin, whereas those consuming the ethanol diet were found to possess only one binding site. This singular site has an intermediate KD value with an increase in receptor number when compared to the high and low affinity sites observed in control mice. The in vitro addition of ethanol to a brain membrane preparation obtained from untreated mice, at a concentration equivalent to that found in the blood of the ethanol-treated mice, did not markedly affect D-Ala2-D-Leu5 enkephalin binding characteristics. No alteration in the binding characteristics of 3H-naloxone, a mu receptor ligand, was noted following five days of ethanol consumption. Mice maintained on the ethanol-containing diet were tolerant to the activity-stimulating effects of acute ethanol administration. These results suggest that mice consuming an ethanol diet in sufficient quantities to render them tolerant exhibit a specific loss of a 3H-D-Ala2-D-Leu5 enkephalin binding site, while the binding of 3H-naloxone was unchanged.

Opioid antagonists and drinking: Evidence of κ-receptor involvement

Abstract Diprenorphine, naloxone, MR-2266-BS and WIN-44,441-3 were compared for their ability to antagonize morphine analgesia and to decrease deprivation-induced drinking in rats. Diprenorphine and naloxone were markedly more potent (32 ×) than MR-2266-BS and WIN-44,441-3 in antagonizing the analgesic effects of morphine. In contrast, diprenorphine, naloxone and MR-2266-BS decreased deprivation-induced drinking over a similar dose range. The doses required to reduce fluid consumption were higher than those necessary to antagonize morphine. WIN-44,441-3 was ineffective in decreasing drinking. The relatively similar potencies of diprenorphine, naloxone and MR-2266-BS for decreasing deprivation-induced drinking suggest that the effect on drinking involves antagonist activity at a κ-opioid receptor.

Novel phenylpiperidine opioid antagonists and partial agonists: Effects on fluid consumption

The effects of five opioid antagonists, a racemate partial agonist and its agonist and antagonist optical isomers were studied on deprivation-induced drinking. All compounds had a phenylpiperidine nucleus. The antagonists produced dose-related decreases in drinking, and the potencies for decreasing drinking correlated with morphine-antagonist doses. The racemic partial agonist and its agonist isomer decreased drinking at doses higher than those which produced marked analgesia. Within the class of phenylpiperidine drugs studied, some had less specificity than naloxone for the mu-receptors as compared to the delta-receptor, but the suppression of drinking was not related to changes in mu-to-delta ratios.

Differential effects of selected dopaminergic agents on locomotor activity in normotensive and spontaneously hypertensive rats

Spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) exhibit a significantly higher level of spontaneous locomotor activity than age-matched normotensive controls (WKY). The direct-acting dopamine agonists, apomorphine and pergolide, produced a biphasic effect on locomotor activity levels in normotensive controls. Low doses of these agonists decreased activity levels, while higher doses of these agonists dramatically stimulated activity. In marked contrast to these results was the effect observed in the SHR, in which these agonists at all doses tested decreased activity. Amphetamine, a dopamine releaser, stimulated activity levels in both the WKY and SHR; however, the magnitude of the increase was somewhat attenuated in the SHR.

Cross-tolerance studies distinguish morphine- and metkephamid-induced analgesia.

In vitro data demonstrate that metkephamid (LY127623), an analog of methionine enkephalin, has a high affinity for the delta opioid receptor, as well as the mu-receptor. Data generated utilizing two in vivo measures of receptor selectivity, furthermore, indicate that metkephamids analgesic activity is in part mediated by delta opioid receptors. The analgesic activity of metkephamid was investigated in the mouse writhing assay following chronic treatment with morphine, the prototypic mu agonist. Mice were treated chronically with increasing doses of morphine or saline and the inhibition of writhing measured in response to an acute injection of morphine or metkephamid. The dose response curve for morphine was shifted to the right 3- to 4-fold following chronic administration of morphine. In contrast, no such shift in the dose response curve for metkephamid was observed in these morphine-tolerant mice. In a further series of tests, a 50 mg/kg dose of naloxazone 20 hr prior to the assessment of morphine or metkephamid analgesia in the mouse hot plate test substantially shifted the dose-response curve for morphine to the right, while leaving the dose-response curve for metkephamid unchanged. These results suggest that delta-receptor activation contributes to the analgesia produced by metkephamid.

Nitrous oxide generalizes to a discriminative stimulus produced by ethylketocyclazocine but not morphine

Abstract The discriminative stimulus properties of nitrous oxide, an analgesic and anesthetic gas, were evaluated in rats trained to discriminate the effects of morphine or ethylketocyclazocine. Administration of nitrous oxide in concentrations as high as 80 percent did not produce generalization to the discriminative cue produced by morphine. Nitrous oxide did, however, generalize in a concentration-dependent manner in rats trained to discriminate ethylketocyclazocine, a psychotomimetic opioid. Naltrexone, a potent narcotic antagonist, did nott block the generalization of nitrous oxide to ethylketocyclazocine. These results suggest that the subjective effects of nitrous oxide are similar to those produced by psychotomimetic drugs rather than those produced by morphine. These findings are in close agreement with those generated in man. Thus, nitrous oxide exhibits some pharmacological properties similar to those of morphine, for example, naloxone reversible analgesia. Yet, it has other properties such as subjective effects that are dissimilar from morphine.

Evidence that ethanol-induced impairment of roto-rod performance is not mediated by opioid mechanisms

1. The performance of mice, trained to remain on a roto-rod, was significantly impaired by both morphine and ethanol. The behavioral impairment was dose dependent. 2. Naloxone (10, 30 and 100 mg/kg) was found to antagonize only the morphine-induced impairment of roto-rod performance. 3. Animals made tolerant to morphine did not perform better than non-tolerant animals when challenged with ethanol, but did perform better when challenged with morphine. As such, no cross tolerance developed between ethanol and morphine in this model. 4. These results suggest that the ethanol-induced impairment of roto-rod performance is not mediated via opioid mechanisms.

Stimulation of presynaptic dopamine autoreceptors by 4-(2-di-n-propylaminoethyl) indole (DPAI)

The dopaminergic activity of 4-(2-di-n-propylaminoethyl)indole (DPAI) was investigated. In animal models for postsynaptic dopaminergic activity DPAI showed only very weak or no effects. In rats with unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine lesions of the nigrostriatal tract, very weak contralateral turning behavior was induced in 4/6 rats. DPAI did not induce stereotyped behavior but caused a pronounced reduction in locomotor activity. In male rats pretreated with reserpine, DPAI lowered serum prolactin levels. Levels of homovanillic acid (HVA) were monitored in the striatum of the chloral hydrate anesthetized rat by means of in vivo voltammetry. DPAI administration reduced the faradaic peak corresponding to HVA. In rats pretreated with the decarboxylase inhibitor, NSD-1015, DPAI blocked the accumulation of dopa in response to gamma-butyrolactone. The results of this study indicate that DPAI possesses a high degree of selectivity for presynaptic dopamine autoreceptors, and little or no effect on postsynaptic dopamine receptors.

Alterations in brain GABA fail to influence morphine withdrawal body shakes

Abstract Discontinuation of chronic morphine infusion in rats resulted in the reliable occurrence of withdrawal body shakes. Valproic acid (2.5–160 mg/kg) or gamma-vinyl GABA (500 and 1000 mg/kg) failed to significantly effect this sign of morphine withdrawal. Etomidate (5 and 10 mg/kg) reduced body shakes, however, these doses produced marked sedation. Similarly, chlordiazepoxide (2.5–40 mg/kg) and flurazepam (2.5–40 mg/kg) decreased the withdrawal body shakes but only at doses which produced sedation. Bicuculline (0.16-0.64 mg/kg) did not alter the occurrence of body shakes whereas picrotoxin (0.64 mg/kg) produced a decrease. These results indicate that central nervous system GABA mechanisms are not important in the mediation of morphine withdrawal body shakes.