title: Narcotic dosage and central nervous system opiate receptor binding.
abstract: Increasing doses of lofentanil (0, 0.08, 0.16, 0.31, 0.63, 1.25, 2.50, 5.00, and 10.0 micrograms/kg), a potent long-acting narcotic, were administered intravenously to rats to examine the relationship among narcotic dosage, degree of analgesia (inhibition of tail withdrawal reflex), anesthesia (no response to bone-crush injury), and central nervous system (CNS) opiate-receptor occupancy (inhibition of [3H] sufentanil binding). Our results demonstrate that increasing doses of lofentanil produce increasing analgesia and anesthesia and eventually complete opiate receptor occupancy. Analgesia occurs with doses of lofentanil (0.31 micrograms/kg) that result in levels of CNS opiate-receptor binding too low to be measured and anesthesia occurs with doses of lofentanil (1.25 micrograms/kg) that produce occupancy of about 25% of the available opiate receptors in subcortical areas and cortex. These findings in rats cannot be applied to narcotic usage in humans, but the data do indicate that in rats a dose eight times the anesthetic dose of lofentanil is needed to saturate virtually all available CNS opiate receptors (10.0 micrograms/kg). Whether saturation of most or all available CNS opiate receptors during narcotic anesthesia is of clinical importance remains to be determined.
mesh_terms: D000698:Analgesia; D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000758:Anesthesia; D000818:Animals; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005283:Fentanyl / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D011957:Receptors, Opioid / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D017409:Sufentanil
chemical_list: D000701:Analgesics, Opioid; D011957:Receptors, Opioid; C034846:lofentanil; D017409:Sufentanil; D005283:Fentanyl