Endorphins: Profound Behavioral Effects in Rats Suggest New Etiological Factors in Mental Illness
Citations Over TimeTop 1% of 1976 papers
Abstract
The endogenous morphinomimetic brain peptides Met5-enkephalin and alpha-, beta-, and gamma-endorphins have been evaluated in rats after intracerebrospinal fluid injection. beta-Endorphin produces marked, prolonged muscular rigidity and immobility similar to a catatonic state, counteracted by the opiate antagonist naloxone; this effect occurs at molar doses 1/100 to 1/400 that at which the other peptides or morphine block the response to painful stimuli. All peptides evoked dose-related, naloxone-reversible, wet-dog shakes in rats that had not been exposed to drugs. beta-Endorphin produced hypothermia, whereas gamma-endorphin produced hyperthermia. Such potent and divergent responses to naturally occurring subtances suggest that alterations in their homeostatic regulation could have etiological significance in mental illness.
Related Papers
- → Effects of naloxone on experimentally induced ischemic pain and on mood in human subjects.(1977)153 cited
- → Low doses of naloxone produce analgesia in the mouse brain by blocking presynaptic autoinhibition of enkephalin release(1986)115 cited
- → On the role of endogenous opioid peptides: Failure of naloxone to influence shock escape threshold in the rat(1976)138 cited
- → Effects of post-trial administration of naloxone and β-endorphin on shock-induced fighting in rats(1983)22 cited
- → Normal CSF levels of met-enkephalin-like material in a case of naloxone—Reversible congenital insensitivity to pain(1984)8 cited