Effects of selective opioid-receptor blockade on the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenocortical responses to surgical trauma in the rat.

Opioid substances have been shown to stimulate and depress the secretion of ACTH in the rat. Their opposing actions appear to be mediated in part by specific receptors in the hypothalamus which influence the secretion of corticotrophin-releasing factor (CRF). In an attempt to determine the physiological role of these receptor systems, experiments were carried out in which the plasma ACTH and serum corticosterone concentrations were determined before and after stress in rats treated s.c. with selective antagonists of mu-(naloxone, naltrexone), delta-(ICI 174864) and kappa-(MR2266) opioid receptors. Neither naloxone (25-100 micrograms/100 g) nor naltrexone (50 micrograms/100 g) influenced the resting plasma ACTH or serum corticosterone concentrations. However, both inhibited (P less than 0.01) the secretion of the two hormones elicited normally by surgical stress (laparotomy under ether anaesthesia). ICI 174864 (30-100 micrograms/100 g) also had little effect on resting hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) activity but, at the highest dose, it caused a small (P less than 0.05) potentiation of the response to surgery. In contrast, MR2266 (150-300 micrograms/100 g) produced marked activation of the HPA system and not only stimulated the resting secretion of ACTH and corticosterone but also potentiated and prolonged the HPA response to stress. The results suggest that mu- and kappa-opioid receptors mediate opposing actions of endogenous opioid peptides, both of which may be physiologically important in the regulation of CRF release.