title: beta-Endorphin: pituitary and adrenal glands modulate its action.
abstract: Hypophysectomized rats are supersensitive to the hypothermic effects of morphine and beta-endorphin injected intraventricularly as early as 1 week after surgery. At 2 weeks after surgery, there is a significant increase in the antinociceptive potency for these opiates. The route of opiate injection must be considered in interpretations of these results. The enhanced opiate potency following subcutaneous morphine injection in hypophysectomized rats may be partially explained by adrenal dysfunction, as demonstrated by a similar sensitization to subcutaneous morphine following adrenalectomy. By contrast, no enhancement of opiate potency was observed upon direct intraventricular injection of morphine or beta-endorphin in adrenalectomized rats. Furthermore, the potency of intravenous beta-endorphin is profoundly enhanced in adrenalectomized mice; five out of nine animals died when injected with a dose of the peptide that produced only mild analgesia in sham controls. The complete reversal of this intravenous beta-endorphin supersensitivity by dexamethasone implies a possible physiological interplay between the peptide and adrenal function.
mesh_terms: D000311:Adrenal Glands / Q000502:physiology*; D000315:Adrenalectomy; D000818:Animals; D001831:Body Temperature / Q000187:drug effects; D002375:Catalepsy / Q000139:chemically induced; D004723:Endorphins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D007016:Hypophysectomy; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008813:Mice, Inbred ICR; D009020:Morphine / Q000494:pharmacology; D010902:Pituitary Gland / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D004723:Endorphins; D009020:Morphine
references.citation: J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 1960 Apr;128:380-3
references.pmid: 14425457
references.citation: J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 1950 Mar;98(3):305-17
references.pmid: 15428991
references.citation: J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 1958 Jan;122(1):148-53
references.pmid: 13502839
references.citation: Acta Biochim Biophys Acad Sci Hung. 1976;11(2-3):121-2
references.pmid: 1007884
references.citation: Life Sci. 1976 Oct 1;19(7):1005-8
references.pmid: 186675
references.citation: Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1977 Feb 21;74(4):1528-35
references.pmid: 843377
references.citation: Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1976 Oct 18;72(4):1542-7
references.pmid: 999687
references.citation: Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1976 SEP 20;72(2):472-8
references.pmid: 985493
references.citation: Psychopharmacologia. 1976 Feb 2;45(3):277-82
references.pmid: 1250942
references.citation: Physiol Behav. 1970 Feb;5(2):143-6
references.pmid: 4337772
references.citation: Physiol Behav. 1973 Feb;10(2):345-50
references.pmid: 4351700
references.citation: Science. 1973 Nov 2;182(4111):490-2
references.pmid: 4582903
references.citation: Eur J Pharmacol. 1974 Jun;27(1):1-4
references.pmid: 4853341
references.citation: J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 1973 Apr;185(1):108-15
references.pmid: 4735025
references.citation: Br J Pharmacol. 1973 Apr;47(4):693-9
references.pmid: 4737428
references.citation: J Comp Physiol Psychol. 1973 Jan;82(1):165-9
references.pmid: 4684972
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1976 Apr;73(4):1145-8
references.pmid: 1063395
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1976 Jul;73(7):2226-30
references.pmid: 1065871
references.citation: Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1976 Jul 12;71(1):19-25
references.pmid: 962912
references.citation: Nature. 1976 Sep 16;263(5574):239-40
references.pmid: 958477
references.citation: Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1976 Apr 19;69(4):950-6
references.pmid: 1275928
references.citation: Eur J Pharmacol. 1976 Mar;36(1):33-9
references.pmid: 1261601
references.citation: Res Commun Chem Pathol Pharmacol. 1975 Nov;12(3):597-600
references.pmid: 1197934
references.citation: Proc Soc Exp Biol Med. 1970 Dec;135(3):854-8
references.pmid: 5486724