OBJECTIVETo observe the effects of remifentanil combined with naloxone on human sperm motility in vitro and to investigate its possible mechanism.

METHODSTwenty normal semen samples were collected, each divided into 13 aliquots, one as the control and the others treated in vitro with different concentrations of remifentanil or remifentanil + naloxone for 35 min. The percentage of progressive mobile sperm was assessed by computer-assisted sperm analysis at 5, 10, 15, 20 and 35 min.

RESULTSCompared with the control group, remifentanil at 0.1, 1, 10 and 100 microg/L significantly decreased sperm motility at 5 and 10 min in a dose-dependent manner, with no significant difference at 15 and 30 min; sperm motility showed no significant difference on 5 -35 min exposure to naloxone at 0.004 -0.04 mg/L, nor on 5, 10, 15 and 20 min exposure at 0.4 -4 mg/L, but was significantly increased at 35 min. Compared with the corresponding concentrations of remifentanil alone, remifentanil + naloxone remarkably increased sperm motility at 0.1 + 0.004, 1 + 0.04, 10 + 0.4, and 100 + 4 mg/L at 5 and 10 min, with no obvious difference at 15 and 30 min.

CONCLUSIONThe onset and offset of the effect of remifentanil on sperm motility are rapid and its inhibitory effect can be antagonized by naloxone, which may be related with the micro-opioid receptor.

Adult ; Humans ; Male ; Naloxone ; administration & dosage ; pharmacology ; Piperidines ; administration & dosage ; pharmacology ; Sperm Motility ; drug effects ; Spermatozoa ; drug effects ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo investigate the cardioprotective effects of morphine on ischemic reperfused rat heart in vitro and its mechanism.

METHODSThe isolated rat heart was perfused in a Langendorff apparatus. Infarct myocardium was determined by TTC. Coronary flow (CF), heart rate (HR), left ventricular pressure (LVP), the first derivative of ventricular pressure (LVP/dtmax) and infarct size after ischemia and reperfusion in rat heart given 0.3 micro mol/L morphine were observed. The effects of naloxone and glibenclamide on the cardioprotection of morphine were also measured.

RESULTSAfter ischemia and reperfusion, CF, HR, LVP and LVP/dtmax of isolated rat hearts decreased significantly (P < 0.01). After morphine preconditioning, HR, LVP and LVP/dtmax increased (P < 0.01) and infarct size was reduced significantly (P < 0.01), while no significant change in CF (P > 0.05). The cardioprotective effects of morphine were abolished by naloxone or glibenclamide completely.

CONCLUSIONSMorphine can reduce ischemia-reperfusion injuries in isolated rat heart. The cardioprotective effects of morphine are mediated by a local opioid receptor-K(ATP) channel linked mechanism in rat hearts.

Animals ; Cardiotonic Agents ; pharmacology ; Glyburide ; pharmacology ; Heart ; drug effects ; In Vitro Techniques ; Ischemic Preconditioning, Myocardial ; Male ; Morphine ; pharmacology ; Myocardial Reperfusion Injury ; prevention & control ; Naloxone ; pharmacology ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar

Previous studies have indicated that the thalamic nucleus submedius (Sm) and the anterior pretectal nucleus (APtN) are involved in the descending modulation of nociception. The aim of the present study was to examine whether the opioid receptors in the Sm and APtN mediated the electroacupuncture (EA)-produced analgesia. The latency of tail flick (TF) reflex induced by radiant heat was used as an index of nociceptive response. The effects of microinjection of opioid receptor antagonist naloxone (1.0 microg, 0.5 ml) into Sm or APtN on the inhibition of the TF reflex induced by EA of "Zusanli" point (St. 36) with high- (5.0 mA) and low- (0.5 mA) intensity were examined in the lightly anesthetized rats. Sm microinjection of naloxone blocked the high- but not low-intensity EA-induced inhibition of the TF reflex. In contrast, naloxone applied to APtN blocked the low- but not high-intensity EA-induced inhibition. When naloxone applied to other brain regions adjacent to Sm or APtN, the EA-induced inhibition was not influenced under either high- or low-intensity condition. These results suggest that opioid receptors in Sm are involved in mediating the analgesia by high-intensity EA for exciting small (A-delta and C group) afferent fibers, while opioid receptors in APtN are involved in mediating the analgesia induced by low-intensity EA for only exciting large (A-beta) afferent fibers.
Acupuncture Analgesia ; Animals ; Electroacupuncture ; Naloxone ; pharmacology ; Narcotic Antagonists ; Nociceptors ; physiology ; Pain Measurement ; Rats ; Receptors, Opioid ; physiology ; Thalamic Nuclei ; physiology

Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation(TENS), acupuncture-needling, and electroacupuncture are useful non-ablative methods in medical practice for relief of pain. These procedures appear to work by causing an increased discharge in afferent nerve fibers which in turn modifies the transmission of impulses in pain pathways. It is known that the mechanism of analagesic effect via these maneuvers are variable depending on the stimulating parameters. For example, the endogenous opioid system is profoundly related to the mechanism when a peripheral nerve stimulation is applied with parameters of low frequency and high intensity. However, when stimulated with parameters of high frequency and high intensity, the reduced activity of dorsal horn neurons is only slightly reversed by a systemic administration of naloxone, a specific opiate antagonist. Thus, the present study was performed to investigate the neurotransmitter that concerns the mechanism of peripheral nerve stimulation with parameters of high frequency and high intensity. We used an iontophoretic application of antagonists of possible related neurotransmitters. The dorsal horn neuron activity which was evoked by squeezing the peripheral cutaneous receptive field, was recorded as an index of pain with a microelectrode at the lumbo-sacral spinal cord. Naloxone, picrotoxin and strychnine were applied at 200nA during a period of conditioning nerve stimulation. We observed the effects of these drugs on the change of dorsal horn neuron activities. The main results of the experiment can be summarized as follows. The spontaneous activity of dorsal horn neurons increased in the presence of glutamate and decreased with GABA. It did not change with naloxone, picrotoxin or strychnine. When naloxone was applied iontophoretically during peripheral nerve stimulation, there was no statistically significant analgesic effect compared with that of the control group. When picrotoxin was applied iontophoretically during peripheral nerve stimulation, the analgesic effect was reduced. When strychnine was applied, the analgesic effect was reduced but did not show a statistically significant difference with the control group. These results suggested that the GABAergic system may have been partially related in the analgesic action of peripheral nerve stimulation with parameters of high frequency and high intensity.
Animal ; Cats ; *Conditioning (Psychology) ; Female ; Iontophoresis ; Male ; Naloxone/*pharmacology ; Neurons/drug effects ; Picrotoxin/*pharmacology ; Spinal Cord/cytology/*drug effects ; Strychnine/*pharmacology ; *Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation

To explore the facilitation of nociceptive response by dynorphin (Dyn ) A in a model of formalin test in rats, the effects of single intrathecal injection (i.t.) of normal saline (NS), MK-801 (antagonist of NMDA receptor), naloxone (antagonist of opioid receptor), or Dyn A (1-17) were observed, and the effects of i.t. MK-801 or naloxone followed by i.t. Dyn A (1-17) were observed as well. The nociceptive licking and biting induced by injection of formalin exhibited two phases. The first phase lasted for a relatively short period of 3-9 min, and the second phase lasted for a relatively longer period after a 3 to 6- min quietness. The results showed that there were no differences in the first phase in all groups; however, there were differences in the second phase as follows: (1) the duration of nociceptive response was significantly increased in Dyn A (1-17) group (489.5+/-22.5 s) as compared to that of NS group (344.7+/-12.9 s), MK-801 group (331.4+/-20.7 s) or naloxone group (352.5+/-18.4 s) (P<0.01 in three cases); (2) the duration of nociceptive response was significantly shortened in MK-801 plus Dyn A (1-17) group (285.7+/-19.4 s) as compared to that of Dyn A (1-17) group (P<0.01), but there were no significant differences as compared to that of MK-801 group; and (3) there was no significant difference in the second phase between naloxone plus Dyn A (1-17) group (473.8+/-17.8 s) and Dyn A (1-17) group, but the duration of nociceptive response was longer than that of NS group or naloxone group (P<0.01 in both). The results obtained suggest: (1) at the spinal cord, Dyn A (1-17) facilitates nociceptive responses; (2) NMDA receptors, but not opioid receptors, are possibly involved in the nociception by Dyn A (1-17).
Animals ; Dizocilpine Maleate ; pharmacology ; Dynorphins ; pharmacology ; Formaldehyde ; Injections, Spinal ; Naloxone ; pharmacology ; Nociceptors ; physiology ; Pain ; chemically induced ; physiopathology ; Rats ; Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate ; antagonists & inhibitors ; physiology

AIMTo observe the responses of pain-related neurons in habenula to the nociceptive stimuli and classic analgesic morphine for inquiring into its characteristics of pain.

METHODSThe experiment was proceeded with adult rats under light anesthetized. Through the cannula inserted by operation or the multielectrode injecting the morphine, naloxone, CCK-8 and etc into lateral cerebro-ventricule or habenula, the unit firings from the neurons of habenula were recorded.

RESULTSThe unit firings were recorded from pain-related neurons distributed in MHb or LHb. The pain-related neurons could be differentiated into pain excitatory or pain inhibitory neurons. After the morphine iontophoresed, the main response of the pain excitatory neurons was inhibited, the pain inhibitory neurons were excited. The naloxone iontophoresed could antagonize the analgesic effect of morphine on neurons of habenula. After the morphine injected (10 mg/kg, i. p) into morphine-tolerated rats, the analgesic efficacy of pain-related neurons in LHb was more stronger than in MHb. It showed that the neurons in LHb were suffered from morphine was higher than MHb. After injection of antagonist of CCK-8 into lateral cerebro-ventricle, morphine injected peritoneally could weaken the tolerance level of morphine. Conversely, after injection of morphine (10 mg/kg, i. p.) 10 min, second time injection of CCK-8 (15 ng/10 microl) into lateral cerebro-ventricle could antagonize the analgesic action of morphine on the neurons in LHb, but in MHb the antagonized action was not obviously.

CONCLUSIONThe excitatory and inhibitory neurons in Hb were sensitive to the nociceptive stimuli and not easy to adapt to it. The sensitivity of the neurons in LHb to morphine was more higher than the neurons in MHb.

Animals ; Habenula ; cytology ; drug effects ; Morphine ; pharmacology ; Naloxone ; pharmacology ; Neurons ; drug effects ; physiology ; Pain Threshold ; drug effects ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Sincalide ; pharmacology

In our previous study, we demonstrated that immobilization stress blocked estrogen-induced luteinizing hormone(LH) surge possibly by inhibiting the synthesis and release of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) at the hypothalamic level and by blocking estrogen-induced prolactin (PRL) surge by increasing the synthesis of dopamine receptor at the pituitary level in ovariectomized rats. The present study was performed to determine whether immobilization stress affects pituitary LH responsiveness to GnRH, and whether endogenous opioid peptide (EOP) and dopamine systems are involved in blocking LH and PRL surges during immobilization stress. Immobilization stress was found to inhibit basal LH release and to completely abolish LH surge. However, the intravenous application of GnRH agonist completely restored immobilization-blocked LH surge and basal LH release. Treatment with naloxone did not exert any effect on immobilization-blocked LH surge but increased basal LH release during immobilization stress. Pimozide did not affect immobilization-blocked LH surge or basal LH release. Naloxone also decreased immobilization-induced basal PRL release, but had no effect on immobilization-blocked PRL surge. Immobilization-increased basal PRL levels were augmented by pimozide treatment and immobilization-blocked PRL surge was dramatically restored by pimozide. We conclude that immobilization stress does not impair pituitary LH response to GnRH, and that the immobilization stress-induced blockage of LH surge is probably not mediated by either the opioidergic or the dopaminergic system. However, immobilization-blockade of PRL surge may be partly mediated by the dopaminergic system.
Animal ; Estradiol/*pharmacology ; Female ; Gonadorelin/*pharmacology ; Immobilization ; Luteinizing Hormone/*secretion ; Naloxone/pharmacology ; Opioid Peptides/physiology ; Ovariectomy ; Prolactin/*secretion ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Receptors, Dopamine/physiology ; Stress/*metabolism

AIMTo determine whether testosterone is involved in morphine withdrawal syndrome (WS).

METHODSIn order to induce dependency, rats were treated with subcutaneous injection of morphine (days 1-2, 5 mg/kg; days 3-5, 7.5 mg/kg; days 6-8, 10 mg/kg), and after the last dose of morphine (day 8) WS was induced by intraperitoneal injection of naloxone (1 mg/kg). Wet dog shake (WDS), abdomen writhing (AW), and jumps (J) were recorded as indicators of WS.

RESULTSThe severity of WDS, AW, and J in male rats was greater than that in females. Accordingly, in 4-week castrated and flutamide-treated (10 mg/kg/day for 8 days, i.p.) male rats, WDS, AW, and J were significantly decreased compared to male control rats. Testosterone replacement therapy (10 mg/kg/day for 8 days, i.m.) in 4-week castrated rats restored the severity of WDS, AW, and J behaviors to the level of non-castrated male rats, whereas testosterone potentiated the WDS behavior in non-castrated male rats.

CONCLUSIONIt can be concluded that testosterone might be effectively involved in morphine WS.

Androgen Antagonists ; pharmacology ; Androgens ; pharmacology ; physiology ; Animals ; Behavior, Animal ; Female ; Flutamide ; pharmacology ; Male ; Morphine ; pharmacology ; Morphine Dependence ; physiopathology ; Naloxone ; pharmacology ; Narcotic Antagonists ; pharmacology ; Narcotics ; pharmacology ; Orchiectomy ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Severity of Illness Index ; Substance Withdrawal Syndrome ; physiopathology ; Testosterone ; pharmacology ; physiology

OBJECTIVETo investigate the cardiac effect of interleukin-2 (IL-2) and to explore the underlying mechanism.

METHODSThe video tracking system and spectrofluorometric method were used to measure the cell contraction and intracellular calcium. Fura-2/AM was used as a calcium fluorescence probe. Langendorff perfusion technique was used to determine the effect of IL-2 on the intact heart.

RESULTSCompared with the control group, IL-2 5 U/ml, 50 U/ml significantly decreased cell contraction amplitude [(74.95+/-4.79) vs (98.09+/-5.02)%, (64.30+/-5.24) vs (97.38+/-4.05)%], peak velocity of cell shortening [(70.23+/-4.85)% vs (98.09+/-5.46)%, (61.15+/-5.20)% vs (97.38+/-6.85)%], peak velocity of cell relengthening [(71.22+/-4.79)% vs (98.32+/-6.08)%, (68.16+/-5.24)% vs (97.55+/-5.00)%] and end- diastolic cell length [(88.28+/-5.84)% vs (97.95+/-5.52)%, (84.18+/-6.52)% vs (98.94+/-6.76)%]. IL-2 (5 U/ml, 50 U/ml) also markedly inhibited intracellular calcium transient [(74.94+/-4.90)% vs (98.09+/-3.74)%,(71.00+/-5.28)% vs (97.38+/-5.52)%], and elevated end-diastolic calcium level of ventricular myocytes [(113.91+/-5.93)% vs (100.10+/-3.02)%, (119.09+/-7.12)% vs (100.52+/-6.00)%], which were attenuated by the opioid receptor antagonist naloxone (Nal,10 nmol/L). In the isolated perfused rat heart,when compared with the control group, IL-2 50 U/ml markedly decreased left ventricular developed pressure [(79.91+/-2.18) vs (93.84+/-2.94)mmHg], maximal rate of rise of left ventricular pressure [(2370.7358.29) vs (2591.50+/-62.81)mmHg] maximal rate of fall of left ventricular [-(1460.95+/-38.6) vs -(1634.24+/-54.05) mmHg/s] and heart rate [(217.35+/-10.56) vs (244.52+/-11.23) beats/min], but increased left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (11.44+/-1.02 vs 9.23+/-0.46). Pretreatment with Nal (10 nmol/L) antagonized the cardiac depression and left ventricular end-diastolic pressure elevation induced by IL-2.

CONCLUSIONThe cardiac effect of IL-2 is mediated by opioid receptors on the membrane of cardiomyocytes.

Animals ; Calcium ; metabolism ; Depression, Chemical ; In Vitro Techniques ; Interleukin-2 ; pharmacology ; Male ; Myocardial Contraction ; drug effects ; Naloxone ; pharmacology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Receptors, Opioid, kappa ; drug effects ; physiology

The effects of femoral nerve electrostimulation (FNES) on ischemia-reperfused myocardium were examined in the urethane- anesthetized rats to determine whether FNES may provide cardioprotection and to observe the possible mechanism. The area at risk (AR) and infarct area (IA) were determined using Evans blue and nitro-blue tetrazolium staining, respectively. Infarct size (IS) was defined as 100xIA/AR (%). The results are as follows: (1) During 30 min myocardial ischemia and subsequent 120 min reperfusion, the myocardial infarct size occupied (54.96+/-0.82)% of the area at risk. (2) FNES of high frequency (10 V, 100 Hz, 1 ms) significantly reduced myocardial infarct size to (36.94+/-1.34)% (P<0.01), indicating the cardioprotective effect FNES of high frequency on myocardial ischemia-reperfusion, while FNES of low frequency (10 V, 10 Hz, 1 ms) had no effect on myocardial infarct size. (3) Pretreatment with either naloxone (5 mg /kg, i.v), a nonselective opioid receptor antagonist, or glibenclamide (5 mg /kg, i.v), a K(ATP) channel antagonist, completely abolished the cardioprotection of FNES (100 Hz) from myocardial ischemia-reperfusion. It is suggested that FNES of high frequency can protect myocardium from ischemia-reperfusion injury. The possible mechanism is that FNES of high frequency may induce the release of opioids from the central nervous system, and the activation of opioid receptors in the heart results in an opening of myocardial K(ATP) channels which can protect myocardium.
Animals ; Electric Stimulation ; methods ; Femoral Nerve ; physiopathology ; Glyburide ; pharmacology ; Male ; Myocardial Infarction ; pathology ; Myocardial Reperfusion Injury ; pathology ; prevention & control ; Naloxone ; pharmacology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Receptors, Opioid ; metabolism