title: Orphanin FQ/nociceptin analgesia in the rat.
abstract: The heptadecapeptide orphanin FQ or nociceptin (OFQ/N), the endogenous ligand for the orphan opioid receptor, has a complex pharmacology in mice, eliciting either an anti-opioid/hyperalgesic action or analgesia depending upon the dose and testing paradigm. Unlike mice, orphanin FQ/nociceptin fails to elicit hyperalgesia in the rat following intracerebroventricular injection. Both OFQ/N and a truncated version, OFQ/N(1-11), produce a robust analgesic response. OFQ/N analgesia is readily antagonized by the opioid antagonists naloxone or diprenorphine, despite their very poor affinity for the cloned orphan opioid receptor. Antisense studies revealed that probes targeting the second and third coding exon of the orphan clone significantly attenuate OFQ/N analgesia, while the exon 1 probe was inactive. These results indicate that OFQ/N elicits a naloxone-sensitive analgesia in rats similar to that previously reported in mice.
authors.affiliation: The Cotzias Laboratory of Neuro-Oncology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY 10021, USA.
authors.forename: G C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Perlmutter
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Leventhal
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Talatti
authors.forename: G W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Pasternak
mesh_terms: D000698:Analgesia; D000818:Animals; D016375:Antisense Elements (Genetics); D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D005091:Exons / Q000235:genetics; D006930:Hyperalgesia / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D009619:Nociceptors / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology*; D015345:Oligonucleotide Probes; D018847:Opioid Peptides / Q000235:genetics* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D011957:Receptors, Opioid / Q000819:agonists*; D000097629:Nociceptin
chemical_list: D016375:Antisense Elements (Genetics); D015345:Oligonucleotide Probes; D018847:Opioid Peptides; D011957:Receptors, Opioid; D000097629:Nociceptin