Antinociceptive effects of intrathecally administered human β-endorphin in the rat and cat

Abstract

Rats chronically implanted with intrathecal catheters displayed a dose-dependent increase in the hot-plate and tail-flick response latencies following the injection of human β-endorphin into the lumbar spinal subarachnoid space through the indwelling catheter. β-Endorphin was approximately 25 times more potent than morphine on a molar basis. Matching morphine and β-endorphin doses such that approximately equal submaximal effects occurred, it was observed that the antinociception produced by β-endorphin lasted approximately three times longer than that produced by morphine. Experiments with intrathecal injection of β-endorphin into the spinal subarachnoid space of cats fitted with intrathecal catheters also revealed a potent antinociceptive effect which was completely antagonized by naloxone. In the rats, naloxone administered systemically in doses of 10–100 μg/kg produced a parallel shift in the dose–response curves of both nociceptive measures suggesting a competitive antagonism. Using a dose ratio analysis, an in vivo pA₂ of 7.1 for naloxone was obtained. These data and those derived from previous work based on the pA₂ suggest that the interaction of morphine, certain pentapeptides, and β-endorphin is the same with regard to the spinal opiate receptor population mediating behavioraily defined analgesia.