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Morphine Tolerance and Supersensitivity to 5-Hydroxytryptamine in the Myenteric Plexus of the Guinea-pig

Nature volume 244, pages 168–170 (1973)Cite this article

Abstract

ELECTRICAL stimulation of the isolated guinea–pig ileum or its longitudinal muscle with attached myenteric plexus releases acetylcholine (ACh) and causes a muscle twitch. The twitch tension is decreased by morphine, as is the output of ACh1–5. This effect of morphine is caused by an action of the drug upon the myenteric plexus. Investigations in several laboratories3,6–8 have shown that the morphine receptors in this neural network are like those in the central nervous system in all the following essentials: (1) The effective concentrations of morphine are very low, of the order of 20–100 nM. (2) The rank order of potencies of various narcotics is the same as for analgesia and other typical central actions over a very wide range of concentrations. (3) The response to narcotics is stereospecific for the D(−) isomers. (4) Narcotic antagonists, especially the pure antagonists like naloxone, block or reverse the agonist effects. (5) Tolerance to morphine develops in this tissue in vivo, as we have shown9,10.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Addiction Research Laboratory, Department of Pharmacology, Stanford University, California, 94305

    R. SCHULZ & A. GOLDSTEIN

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  1. R. SCHULZ
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  2. A. GOLDSTEIN
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SCHULZ, R., GOLDSTEIN, A. Morphine Tolerance and Supersensitivity to 5-Hydroxytryptamine in the Myenteric Plexus of the Guinea-pig. Nature 244, 168–170 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1038/244168a0

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