Cyclic somatostatin analogues as potent antagonists at mu-, but not delta- and kappa-opioid receptors mediating presynaptic inhibition of neurotransmitter release in the brain.

The opioid receptor antagonist properties of four conformationally constrained cyclic octapeptide analogues of somatostatin were investigated using in vitro functional paradigms of mu-, delta- and kappa-opioid receptors in the rat brain. The analogues examined were D-Phe-Cys-Tyr-D-Trp-Orn-Thr-Pen-Thr-NH2 (CTOP), D-Phe-Cys-Tyr-D-Trp-Arg-Thr-Pen-Thr-NH2 (CTAP), D-Tic-CTOP (TCTOP) and D-Tic-CTAP (TCTAP). Activation of mu-receptors by the enkephalin analogue Tyr-D-Ala-Gly-(NMe)Phe-Gly-ol (DAGO) inhibited the (electrically evoked) release of [3H]noradrenaline (NA) from superfused cortical slices and this inhibitory effect was antagonized in a competitive fashion by all of the octapeptides tested (pA2 values: CTOP and CTAP 7.9-8.0, TCTOP and TCTAP 8.7-8.8). Selective activation of kappa-opioid receptors by the cyclohexylbenzeneaceamide U69593 (0.02 microM) inhibited (by 40-45%) the release of [3H]dopamine (DA) from striatal slices, whereas selective activation of delta-opioid receptors by [D-Ser2(O-t-butyl),Leu5]enkephalyl-Thr6 (DSTBULET; 0.1 microM) caused an inhibition (by 38-46%) of striatal [14C]acetylcholine (ACh) release. However, these inhibitory effects were not affected by any of the octapeptides in concentrations that caused full antagonism of the inhibitory effect (55-65%) of 0.1 microM DAGO on cortical [3H]NA release. Thus, the cyclic octapeptide somatostatin analogues CTOP, CTAP, TCTOP and TCTAP are potent and highly selective antagonists at the mu-opioid receptors mediating presynaptic inhibition of NA release in the brain. The mu-receptor affinity of the most potent of these antagonists, TCTOP and TCTAP, appears to be similar to that of naloxone but these antagonists have a much greater selectivity than the latter.