1. The effects of opioid drugs and of Na+ replacement on steroidogenesis in rat adrenal cell suspensions were investigated. 2. In medium containing normal Na+ (156 mM), opioid antagonists but not opioid agonists reduced the steroidogenic response to adrenocorticotrophic hormone1-24 (ACTH1-24) but not to dibutyryl adenosine 3',5' cyclic monophosphate (db cyclic AMP). 3. Replacement of 50% Na+ in...

The mu-opioid receptor (MOR) is the G-protein coupled receptor primarily responsible for mediating the analgesic and rewarding properties of opioid agonist drugs such as morphine, fentanyl, and heroin. We have utilized a combination of traditional and modified membrane yeast two-hybrid screening methods to identify a cohort of novel MOR interacting proteins (MORIPs). The interaction between the...

Leftover PrescriptionOpioids AfterMinor Procedures: AnUnwitting Source for Accidental Overdose in Children Increasing rates of opioid misuse, adverse events, and deaths from opioids have paralleled prescription patterns,1 suggesting that physician efforts to alleviate pain have contributed to this public health crisis. Children and adolescents are particularly vulnerable to prescription opioid ...

We have used single-channel patch-clamp recordings to study opiate receptor effects on freshly dissociated neurons from the rat amygdalohippocampal area (also called the posterior nucleus of the amygdala), an output nucleus of the amygdala implicated in appetitive behaviors. Dissociated cells included a distinct subpopulation that was 30-40 micrometer in diameter, multipolar or pyramidal in sha...

Opioid-induced bowel dysfunction (OIBD) is a collective term used to describe the gastrointestinal side effects of long-term opioid therapy in chronic pain patients. Constipation, nausea, vomiting, bloating, abdominal pain, and gastric reflux are among the most common gastrointestinal adverse effects. Within opioid-induced bowel dysfunction, a more specific subset exists, opioid-induced constip...

combined use of an opioid with a psychostimulant is popular among drug abusers. such “polydrug use” may increase drug effects or attenuate adverse effects of either drug alone. we proposed that a combination of methamphetamine (meth) and morphine may change physical opioid withdrawal symptoms. adult male rats were chronically injected with cumulative subcutaneous (s.c.) doses of morphine, meth ...

Opioids were available in clinical practice since before the birth of modern anaesthesia--Setürner isolated morphine in 1806. They have a record of safety which is reflected in their high therapeutic ratios, especially the synthetic opioids introduced recently (table III). The most serious immediate adverse effect, respiratory depression, is a predictable effect related closely to analgesia. It...

BACKGROUND Opioid misuse and abuse occurring in association with the treatment of chronic non-cancer pain are not new phenomena, but their increasing prevalence in recent years is unprecedented. Advancements in pharmaceutical technologies have provided opioid-related drugs, which lack the pure mu agonist activity characteristic of the typical opioid congeners. This absent or altered mu receptor...