Abstract
MORPHINE and other narcotic analgesics depress the spontaneous release of acetylcholine (ACh) from the rat cerebral cortex in vivo1,2. The effect of these agents on the central release of ACh, like their inhibitory effects on the peripheral release of ACh in the guinea pig ileum, is stereospecific3 and can be fully antagonised by naloxone4. It is well recognised that the endogenous opiate peptides, enkephalins5,6 and endorphins7, depress the output of ACh from the electrically stimulated guinea pig ileum by a specific action on opiate receptors. This suggests that in the central nervous system endogenous opiates may exert a significant influence on the release of ACh. We have examined the effects of two enkephalins, methionine-enkephalin (Met-enkephalin) and leucine-enkephalin (Leu-enkephalin) on the cortical release of ACh in vivo following intraventricular injections. Our observations show that natural enkephalins may interact with opiate receptors in the brain to modulate the release of ACh from the cholinergic neurones.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Matthews, J. D., Labrecque, G. & Domino, E. F. Psychopharmacologia 29, 113–120(1973).
Jhamandas, K. & Sutak, M. Br. J. Pharmac. 50, 57–62 (1974).
Jhamandas, K., Hron, V. & Sutak, M. Can. J. Pharmac. Physiol. 50, 540–548 (1975).
Jhamandas, K. & Sutak, M. Br. J. Pharmac. 58, 101–107 (1976).
Hughes, J. Brain Res. 88, 295–308 (1975).
Hughes, J., Smith, T. W., Kosterlitz, H. W., Fothergill, L. A., Morgan, B. A. & Morris, H. R. Nature 258, 577–579 (1975).
Goldstein, A. Science 193, 1081–1086 (1976).
MacIntosh, F. C. & Oborin, P. E. Abstr. XIX Int. Physiol. Cong. 580–581 (1953).
Mullin, W. J., Phillis, J. W. & Pinsky, C. Eur. J. Pharmac. 22, 117–119 (1973).
Nistri, A. Brain Res. 110, 403–406 (1976).
Simantov, R. & Snyder, S. H. Molec. Pharmac. 12, 987–998 (1976).
Taube, H. D., Borowski, E., Endo, T. & Starke, K. Eur. J. Pharmac. 38, 377–380 (1976).
Loh, H. H., Brase, D. A., Sumathy, S. K., Jeffrey, B. M., Way, E. L. & Li, C. H. Nature 264, 567–568 (1976).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
JHAMANDAS, K., SAWYNOK, J. & SUTAK, M. Enkephalin effects on release of brain acetylcholine. Nature 269, 433–434 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1038/269433a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/269433a0
This article is cited by
-
Emotional numbing: A possible endorphin-mediated phenomenon associated with post-traumatic stress disorders and other allied psychopathologic states
Journal of Traumatic Stress (1992)
-
Effect of Leu-enkephalin and delta sleep inducing peptide (DSIP) on endogenous noradrenal in release by rat brain synaptosomes
Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine (1985)
-
Brain acetylcholine during morphine withdrawal
Neurochemical Research (1984)
-
Comparative aspects of opioid-dopamine interaction
Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology (1982)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.