u-50488 and 3-hydroxybenzylhydrazine

Calcitonin can selectively modulate the effects of opioids on the rat hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and increase the release of corticosterone induced by a kappa-opioid receptor agonist. Considerable evidence supports the involvement of opioid and serotonergic systems in the analgesic effect of calcitonin. In this study, the involvement of hypothalamic serotonergic pathways in the calcitonin potentiation of the effect of (trans-(+/-)-3,4-dichloro-N-methyl-N-[2-(1-pyrrolidinyl) cyclohexyl]-benzeneacetamide methane sulphonate (U-50,488H) on the secretion of corticosterone was examined. The correlation between the calcitonin-induced potentiation of the pituitary adrenal response to U-50,488H and changes in serotonin turnover was evaluated. Our results show that the increase in the release of corticosterone induced by treatment with calcitonin + U-50,488H was not evident when the turnover of serotonin was decreased by inhibition of its synthesis with m-hydroxybenzylhydrazine (NSD 1015) or by blockade of its metabolism with trans-2-phenylcyclopropylamine (tranylcypromine). Although other factors can not be discarded, from the present data it can be suggested that the serotonergic system plays an important role in the interaction calcitonin-kappa-opioid receptor agonist in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis.

Topics: 3,4-Dichloro-N-methyl-N-(2-(1-pyrrolidinyl)-cyclohexyl)-benzeneacetamide, (trans)-Isomer; 5-Hydroxytryptophan; Analgesics, Non-Narcotic; Animals; Aromatic Amino Acid Decarboxylase Inhibitors; Calcitonin; Corticosterone; Enzyme Inhibitors; Hydrazines; Hydroxyindoleacetic Acid; Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System; Male; Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors; Pituitary-Adrenal System; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Receptors, Opioid, kappa; Receptors, Pituitary Hormone-Regulating Hormone; Serotonin; Tranylcypromine

Although both mu- and kappa-opioid components of prolactin (PRL) secretion have been identified in the adult rat, the neural pathways through which these multiple receptor subtypes modulate PRL secretion have not been thoroughly investigated. The present study utilizes the differential ontogeny of opioid systems which alter PRL release to examine the mechanisms by which mu- and kappa-receptors regulate prolactin. The responses of PRL, corticosterone and growth hormone to opioid receptor subtype-specific agonists were studied in neonatal rats. The PRL response to the kappa-agonist, U50488, preceded the response to the mu-agonist, morphiceptin. Like adults, neonates demonstrated a growth hormone, but not a PRL, response to the delta agonist, [D-pen2,pen5]enkephalin. U50488-induced PRL secretion was not attenuated by cyproheptadine in adults or neonates, suggesting that the kappa-opioid mechanism operates independently of serotonin. In contrast, the PRL response to morphine was attenuated in adult rats. In addition, U50488 decreased median eminence dopamine synthesis in both adults and neonates. These findings suggest that the early developing, serotonin-independent opioid regulation of PRL is mediated through kappa-receptors, while the later-developing mechanism which requires intact serotonergic transmission works through mu-receptors. kappa-Receptors appear to regulate PRL secretion by directly inhibiting the activity of tuberoinfundibular dopamine neurons, while mu-receptors might regulate the tonic dopaminergic inhibition of PRL through a serotonergic pathway.

Topics: 3,4-Dichloro-N-methyl-N-(2-(1-pyrrolidinyl)-cyclohexyl)-benzeneacetamide, (trans)-Isomer; Animals; Dynorphins; Endorphins; Enkephalin, D-Penicillamine (2,5)-; Enkephalins; Hydrazines; Morphine; Peptide Fragments; Prolactin; Pyrrolidines; Rats; Rats, Inbred Strains; Receptors, Opioid; Receptors, Opioid, kappa; Receptors, Opioid, mu; Serotonin