title: Anticonvulsant effects of mu (DAGO) and delta (DPDPE) enkephalins in rats.
abstract: The effects of highly selective mu and delta opioid peptide agonists were determined in two rat models of experimentally-induced convulsions, the flurothyl threshold test and the maximal electroshock test. Intracerebroventricular injections of the mu selective enkephalin DAGO (0.3-2.2 nmol) resulted in a dose-related protection in both seizure models. Pretreatment with a low dose of naloxone (29 nmol) or the irreversible mu antagonist beta-FNA (21 nmol), but not the delta opioid antagonist ICI 154,129 (50 nmol), antagonized the anticonvulsant actions of DAGO. Intracerebroventricular injections of the delta selective enkephalin DPDPE (70-140 nmol) also resulted in seizure protection. These effects were selectively antagonized by the delta antagonist ICI 174,864 (2.8 nmol), but not by pretreatment with beta-FNA. Thus, using agonists and antagonists highly selective for mu and delta opioid receptors, anticonvulsant actions of enkephalin have been described against chemically- and electrically-induced convulsions in rats.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Neurosciences, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Washington, DC 20307.
authors.forename: F C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Tortella
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Echevarria
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Robles
authors.forename: H I
authors.initials: HI
authors.lastname: Mosberg
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Holaday
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002552:Cerebral Ventricles / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D020875:Enkephalin, Ala(2)-MePhe(4)-Gly(5)-; D020881:Enkephalin, D-Penicillamine (2,5)-; D004745:Enkephalins / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005481:Flurothyl; D007276:Injections, Intraventricular; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D011957:Receptors, Opioid / Q000502:physiology*; D017465:Receptors, Opioid, delta; D017450:Receptors, Opioid, mu; D012640:Seizures / Q000503:physiopathology
chemical_list: D000927:Anticonvulsants; D004745:Enkephalins; D011957:Receptors, Opioid; D017465:Receptors, Opioid, delta; D017450:Receptors, Opioid, mu; D020875:Enkephalin, Ala(2)-MePhe(4)-Gly(5)-; D020881:Enkephalin, D-Penicillamine (2,5)-; D005481:Flurothyl