1st Edition

Pharmacology of Opioid Peptides

Edited By L F Tseong Copyright 1995

    This book is being published at a time when opioid receptors have recently been cloned. The structural characteristics of opioid receptors and the recent advances in their molecular cloning and expression are explicated. Connecting these cloned opioid receptors with the pharmacology of opioid receptor actions is of particular importance. The use of antisense oligodeoxynucleotides to opioid receptors to elucidate the neural mechanisms of opioid action is detailed.
    As analgesia is one of the most important clinical functions for opioids and opioid peptides, this book concentrates on the detailed mechanisms of action of opioids and opioid peptides for the production of analgesia. The significant pharmacologic actions of opioids and opioid peptides in gastrointestinal function, immune function, cardiovascular and respiratory regulation, addiction and the cellular mechanisms involved in tolerance and dependence of opioids are also described.
    The book will be of interest both to researchers investigating the neural mechanisms of the pharmacologic and physiologic functions of the endogenous opioid system and to clinicians who are involved in pain management and assessment.

    1. Selective Ligands for m and d Opioid Receptors 2. k and e Opioid Receptor Binding 3. Molecular Characterization of Opioid Receptors 4. Pharmacological Regulation of Opioid Peptide Gene Expression: Second and Third Messenger Systems 5. Enzymes Involved in Opioid Peptide Biosynthesis 6. G-Proteins and Opioid Receptors' Functions 7. Cellular Mechanisms of Excitatory and Inhibitory Actions of Opioids 8. Regulation of Enkephalins and Catecholamine Synthesizing Enzymes in the Adrenal Medulla 9. Functional Roles of Opioids in the Hippocampus 10. Regulation of Enkephalin in Glia 11. The Modulation of Nociception by Enkephalin-coating Neurons in the Brainstem 12. Pharmacological Characterization of Opioid d- and k- receptors 13. Mechanisms of b-endorphin-enduced Antinociception 14. The Effects of Diabetes on Opioid-induced Antinociception 15. Opioid Peptides, Opioid Receptors and Peripheral Analgesia 16. Modulation of Opioid Receptors by Anti-opioid Peptides 17. Nitrous Oxide and Endogenous Opioid Peptides 18. The Role of Opioid Peptides in Environmentally-induced Analgesia 19. Opioid Pepetides in Gastrointestinal Functions 20. The Role of Opioid Peptides in Immune Function 21. Opioid Peptides in Cardiovascular and Respiratory Regulation 22. Endogenous Opioids and Addiction 23. Cellular Mechanisms of Opioid Tolerance and Dependence

    Biography

    L F Tseong