Respiratory and subjective effects of dand l-pentazocine

Sigma1 receptor subtype does not interact with stereotyped behaviors in rats

In the present study, we clearly showed that the sigma1 receptor subtype did not interact with the induction of stereotyped behaviors in rats. Namely, (+)-N-allylnormetazocine [(+)-SKF-10,047] (5.0, 10.0, and 20.0 mg/kg, SC), a traditional sigma receptor ligand that has affinities for the sigma1 receptor subtype and the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)/phencyclidine (PCP) receptor channel complex, markedly produced PCP-like stereotyped behaviors, such as head weaving, turning, and backpedaling, in rats. On the contrary, 1-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-4-(3-phenylpropyl)piperazine dihydrochloride (SA4503), a potent and selective sigma1 receptor agonist, did not produce these behaviors. Additionally, PCP-induced stereotyped behaviors were significantly augmented by (+)-SKF-10,047, but not by SA4503. We thus suggest that the induction of PCP-like stereotyped behaviors elicited by (+)-SKF-10,047 closely interacts with NMDA/PCP receptor channel complex but not with the sigma1 receptor subtype.

Regulation of [3H] dopamine release from mesolimbic and mesocortical areas of guinea pig brain by sigma receptors

The role of sigma (sigma) receptors in brain function is poorly defined. They are located in limbic areas, including nucleus accumbens (NAC) and prefrontal cortex (PFC), both of which are thought to be involved in schizophrenia. Many antipsychotics (APs), including haloperidol, bind with high affinity to sigma receptors. Dopaminergic hyperactivity in NAC is thought to underlie positive symptoms of schizophrenia, while dopaminergic hypoactivity in PFC is thought to underlie negative symptoms. Sigma receptors regulate N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)-stimulated [3H] dopamine ([3H]DA) release in caudate-putamen (CP), the neuroanatomical substrate for extrapyramidal side effects resulting from chronic AP treatment. In the current study, we investigated whether sigma receptors could similarly regulate DA release in mesolimbic and mesocortical tissue, and the relative participation of different sigma receptor subtypes in this process. We found that, in NAC, regulation of DA release by the prototypical sigma agonist (+)pentazocine was mediated predominantly by the sigma 1 receptor, whereas in the PFC a portion of the (+)pentazocine effect was likely mediated by the sigma 2 receptor. We also observed, in both the NAC and PFC, that regulation of DA release by the sigma agonist BD737 was mediated primarily by the sigma 1 receptor. In addition, we determined that (+)pentazocine or BD737 effects on DA release were not mediated via opioid receptors, nor the phencyclidine (PCP) binding site within the NMDA receptor-operated cation channel, nor by sigma receptor effects upon [3H]DA accumulated by noradrenergic terminals in PFC.

sigma Receptor antagonists block the development of sensitization to cocaine

The effects of putative sigma receptor antagonists, BMY-14802 (alpha-(4-fluorophenyl)-4-(5-fluoro-2-pyrimidinyl)-1-piperazine), rimcazole and SR-31742A (cis-3-(hexahydroazepin-1-yl)1-(3-chloro-4- cyclohexylphenyl)propene-1), on the development of behavioral sensitization induced by repeated administration of cocaine were investigated. Acute intraperitoneal injection of 15 mg/kg cocaine in rats induced moderate hyperactivity which mainly consisted of sniffing and rearing. These acute effects of cocaine were hardly affected by co-administration of the sigma receptor antagonists, except that BMY-14802 enhanced, but not significantly cocaine-induced locomotion. While repeated cocaine administration induced a progressive increase in stereotyped behaviors and resulted in sensitization, every sigma receptor antagonists tested attenuated the development of sensitization to cocaine. These prophylactic effects of sigma receptor antagonists against cocaine-induced sensitization were confirmed by the challenge test with cocaine alone after an abstinence. These results were consistent with results of our previous study which revealed that BMY-14802 blocked the sensitization to methamphetamine, another psychostimulant. Therefore, sigma receptors play a crucial role in the development of the psychostimulant-induced sensitization phenomenon, which is a pharmacological model of schizophrenia.

HPLC separation of pentazocine enantiomers in serum using an ovomucoid chiral stationary phase

A stereospecific HPLC method was developed for the analysis of (-) and (+) pentazocine in human serum. Each enantiomer and the internal standard nalophine were isolated from serum using a liquid-liquid extraction procedure. Recoveries of 99.05 +/- 5.37 and 97.42 +/- 2.78% were obtained for (-) and (+) pentazocine, respectively. Resolution of the enantiomers was obtained by using an ovomucoid chiral stationary phase with a mobile phase of methanol:acetonitrile: 10 mM phosphate buffer, pH 5.8 (20:5.3:74.7 v/v/v). A resolution (Rs) value of 1.80 was obtained for the pentazocine enantiomers. Linear calibration curves were obtained in the 10-100 ng/mL range for each enantiomer in serum. The detection limit based on a signal-to-noise ratio of 3 was 5 ng/mL for each enantiomer in serum using fluorescence detection with excitation at 275 nm and emission set at 335 nm. The lowest quantifiable level was found to be 10 ng for each enantiomer. Precision and accuracy of the method were in the 3.8-4.8% and 1.3-4.2% ranges, respectively.

Supersensitivity of σ receptors after repeated administration of cocaine

We investigated the role of sigma receptors in the expression of behavioral sensitization induced by cocaine. Rats received intraperitoneal injections of either 20 mg/kg cocaine or saline once daily for 14 consecutive days. Cocaine-treated rats became sensitized. After a 5-day abstinence period, a challenge dose of (+)-3-[3-hydroxyphenyl]-N-(1-propyl)piperidine ((+)-3-PPP), a sigma receptor agonist, was administered. (+)-3-PPP at doses of 12 and 24 mg/kg induced significantly more frequent rearing and more potent stereotypy consisting of repetitive head movement and sniffing in cocaine-sensitized rats than in saline-pretreated rats. These enhanced responses to (+)-3-PPP lasted for at least a month. The enhanced responses to (+)-3-PPP were attenuated by 30 mg/kg BMY 14802, a putative sigma antagonist, and also attenuated by 100 mg/kg (+/-)-sulpiride, a D2 dopamine antagonist. These findings show that repeated administration of cocaine produces lasting supersensitivity of simga receptors, which may induce subsequent activation of dopaminergic transmission.

Sigma receptors. Putative links between nervous, endocrine and immune systems

The sigma receptor is a neuronal substrate that binds several psychoactive compounds. These include cocaine, some steroids, dextromethorphan, phencyclidine (PCP), and benzomorphans such as pentazocine and N-allyl-normatezocine (SKF-10047). Many newer atypical antipsychotic drugs also bind to the sigma receptor. The sigma receptor, however, is not the PCP receptor. The sigma receptor exists in the central nervous system, endocrine, immune and certain peripheral tissues. Progesterone and certain steroids have been shown to represent endogenous ligands for the sigma receptor. The sigma receptor resides likely in the nonsynaptic region of the plasma membrane. The sigma receptor exists in two forms: high-affinity and low-affinity. The solubilized sigma receptor retains all of the pharmacological characteristics of a membrane-bound receptor. A major physiological role of the sigma receptor may involve the modulation of a tonic potassium channel.

Selective loss of cerebral cortical sigma, but not PCP binding sites in schizophrenia

Drugs such as phencyclidine (PCP) that interact with PCP and sigma binding sites can produce psychotomimetic effects that resemble some symptoms of schizophrenia. Therefore, it has been suggested that PCP and sigma receptors may be important in the clinical manifestations of schizophrenia. Assays of these two binding sites in human postmortem brains showed consistent significant reductions in the density of sigma, but not PCP sites, in schizophrenics as compared with age-matched and postmortem interval-matched normal and suicide controls. Reductions in the density of sigma binding sites in schizophrenia were most prominent in temporal cerebral cortex, and were accompanied by a small increase in affinity for the ligand [3H]haloperidol. These data provide the first evidence for alterations in sigma binding sites in schizophrenia, and suggest that selective sigma ligands may be useful in the treatment of the disorder.

Analysis of drugs and other toxic substances in biological samples for pharmacokinetic studies

The importance of the role of analysis of drugs and other toxic substances in biological samples (bioanalysis) in medicine, toxicology, pharmacology, forensic science, environmental research and other biomedical disciplines is self-evident. Among these disciplines, bioanalysis plays a special pivotal role in pharmacokinetics. The pharmacokinetic parameters, such as half-life, volume of distribution, clearance and bioavailability, of drugs and other compounds are derived from the concentrations of these analytes assayed in the biological samples collected at specified time points. The capability of analysts to develop sensitive and specific analytical methods for the assay of low concentrations of drugs and other toxic compounds in small amounts of biological samples has contributed significantly to the theoretical advances in pharmacokinetics and its applications in clinical pharmacology and the management of drug therapy in patients. The increased demands for pharmacokinetic applications in turn have stimulated the innovation and improvement in bioanalytical technologies. The reliability of the pharmacokinetic conclusions depends on the accuracy and precision of the analytical methods employed to assay the biological samples. Factors that affect the integrity of the bioanalytical data should therefore be controlled in analysis of biological samples for pharmacokinetics studies. The biological samples for drug concentration determination should be collected as specified in the study protocol with respect to the time and site of sampling. These samples should be processed to avoid extraneous interactions between the analytes and sampling devices or additives resulting in the redistribution of the analytes between components of the biological samples, such as displacement of drug binding and changes in the distribution of the analytes between plasma and red blood cells. The stability of the drugs and other analytes in the samples should also be evaluated to establish the conditions suitable for the transportation and storage of the samples to avoid chemical, photochemical and enzymatic degradation of the analytes. Various technologies have been utilized to assay biological samples for pharmacokinetic studies. The most frequently used are chromatography (high-performance liquid chromatography, gas chromatography and thin-layer chromatography), immunoassays and mass spectrometry.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

The significance of multiple CNS opioid receptor types: a review of critical considerations relating to technical details and anatomy in the study of central opioid actions

The study of the CNS actions of opioids is complicated by the presence of both multiple opioid receptors and endogenous ligands in the brain. The recent descriptions of opioid isoreceptors, of tonic opioid systems, and of multiple opioid receptors on a single neuron are further technical details which must be considered. In the use of various opiates and opioid peptides to study physiological systems, the multiple opioid affinities of these compounds, as well as potential non-opioid actions, must be controlled for in the experimental design. In conjunction with the multiple receptor affinities of various opiates is the problem of receptor dualism with some drugs; particularly with the agonist/antagonist analgesics. Species differences in the relative proportions of different opioid receptor populations also limit any generalizations of a finding in one species. These limitations in the study of opioid receptors will be discussed with reference to previous neurochemical, neuroendocrine, electrophysiological and behavioral reports of multiple opioid receptors.

Clinical evidence for different narcotic receptors and relevance for the clinician

Analgesics such as morphine are toxic drugs that kill by producing respiratory depression. Further morphine-like drugs produce a high level of physical dependence and are highly reinforcing in some subjects. A systematic search, conducted over the last 50 years, for safer and less addicting analgesic has revealed that opioid analgesics act on different types of opioid receptors (mu, kappa, and sigma), and that they may function as mixed agonist-antagonists or as partial agonists. Thus some mixed agonists function as competitive antagonists at the mu receptor and as partial or strong agonists at the kappa or sigma receptor. When mixed agonists produce the same pharmacologic effects (eg, analgesia) by acting on different receptors, they invoke the principle of receptor dualisms. Drugs that produce agonist (analgesic) effects by acting on the kappa receptors are an order of magnitude safer than the mu agonists and produce a lesser degree of physical dependence than strong mu agonists. Thus safer, less addicting analgesics have been produced that act either as agonist-antagonists or by being partial agonists.

Stereospecific effects of d- and l-pentazocine on contractions of the mouse vas deferens

The effects of the d- and l-isomers of pentazocine were compared to that of racemic pentazocine on contractions of the mouse isolated vas deferens. L-pentazocine inhibited electrically evoked contractions of the mouse vas deferens (MVD) in a dose-dependent manner (ID50 0.37 +/- 0.04 microM). In contrast, d-pentazocine augmented field stimulated contractions dose-dependently; per cent increases in contractions at 10 and 30 microM were 57.8 +/- 18.0 and 98.0 +/- 15.1%, respectively. Racemic pentazocine produced an intermediate effect between the two isomers. The effect of 1-pentazocine was antagonized by naloxone, whereas that of d-pentazocine was not. L-pentazocine did not effect the response of the MVD to exogenous norepinephrine at any concentration tested, while d-pentazocine depressed the response of the MVD to exogenous norepinephrine at one dose (0.3 microM). These findings demonstrate that d- and l-pentazocine produce opposite effects on the MVD. The effects of l-pentazocine are opioid mediated, while those of d-pentazocine are not. In the racemic mixture the opposing effects of the two isomers modulate each other, resulting in a diminished effect.

Effect of analgesic agents on emptying of the gallbladder in man

A controlled study of the clinical pharmacology of the biliary tract has been made. The rate of gallbladder emptying induced by a fatty meal was taken as a parameter for assessment of the inhibitory effect of indoprofen, a new analgesic-anti-inflammatory drug, pentazocine and morphine. The compounds were administered as single doses by iv (indoprofen and pentazocine) or im (morphine) injection. Indoprofen up to 400 mg had no effect, whereas morphine and pentazocine exerted a significant inhibitory effect on emptying of the gallbladder. Adverse reactions of clinical significance were associated with morphine and pentazocine, but were negligible with indoprofen.