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A Tempel

Publications and source records attributed to A Tempel.

25 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Interaction of [3H](-)-SKF-10,047 with brain sigma receptors: characterization and autoradiographic visualization.

The sigma opiates differ from other opiates in their stimulatory and psychotomimetic actions. The sigma opiate [3H](-)-SKF-10,047 has been used to characterize sigma receptors in rat nervous tissue. Binding of [3H](-)-SKF-10,047 to rat brain membranes was of high affinity, saturable, and reversible. Scatchard analysis revealed the apparent interaction of this drug with two distinct binding sites characterized by affinities of 0.03 and 75 nM (5 mM Tris-HCl buffer, pH 7.4, at 4 degrees C). Competition analyses involving rank order determinations for a series of opiates and other drugs indicate that the high-affinity binding site is the mu opiate receptor. The lower-affinity site (revealed after suppression of mu and delta receptor binding) has been identified as the sigma opiate/phencyclidine receptor. In vitro autoradiography has been used to visualize neuroanatomical patterns of receptors labeled using [3H](-)-SKF-10,047 in the presence of normorphine and [D-Ala2,D-Leu5]enkephalin to block mu and delta interactions, respectively. Labeling patterns differ markedly from those for mu, delta, or kappa receptors. The highest densities (determined by quantitative autoradiography) are found in the medial portion of the nucleus accumbens, amygdaloid nucleus, hippocampal formation, central gray, locus coeruleus, and the parabrachial nuclei. Receptors in these structures could account for the stimulatory, mood-altering, and analgesic properties of the sigma opiates. Although not the most selective sigma opiate ligand, [3H](-)-SKF-10,047 binds to sigma opiate receptors in brain, and this interaction can be readily distinguished from its interactions with other classes of brain opiate receptors.

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Neurochemical and functional correlates of naltrexone-induced opiate receptor up-regulation.

The neurochemical and functional correlates of opioid receptor up-regulation after chronic antagonist administration in vivo and of down-regulation after withdrawal of antagonist were examined. Total brain opioid receptors increased 1.9-fold by day 8 of naltrexone administration, after which no further increase was observed; the newly synthesized or unmasked receptors exhibited an enhanced sensitivity to guanyl nucleotide modulation. Withdrawal from chronic naltrexone treatment resulted in a return to nearly control levels of receptor density and guanyl nucleotide sensitivity in a period of 6 days. These results suggest that up-regulation is accompanied by an increased coupling of the receptors to the inhibitory guanyl nucleotide binding protein (Ni) and that down-regulation involves the dissociation of the receptor/Ni complex. In experiments designed to target opiate receptor subtypes, long-term treatment with naltrexone was found to produce a coordinated up-regulation of brain mu and delta receptors, but did not cause a significant change in the density or affinity of kappa or sigma receptors. These findings indicate that the kappa and sigma opiate receptor classes may be subject to independent control mechanisms. Chronic naltrexone treatment also resulted in an enhanced morphine-induced analgesia. This result indicates that a functional supersensitivity occurs as a result of the selective up-regulation of mu and delta receptors. After withdrawal from naltrexone, supersensitivity to morphine-induced analgesia decreased monotonically and, in parallel to opioid receptor density, to prenaltrexone treatment levels within 6 days. Together, these results suggest a functional significance for antagonist-induced mu and delta opiate receptor up-regulation.

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Visualization of opiate receptor upregulation by light microscopy autoradiography.

Light microscopy autoradiography has been used to visualize neuroanatomical patterns of brain opiate receptor upregulation in response to chronic naltrexone administration. Slide-mounted brain sections of frozen rat brain were labeled in vitro with dihydro[3H]morphine, a relatively selective mu opioid ligand. The greatest relative increases in opiate receptor density were observed in the nucleus accumbens, the amygdala, striatal patches, nuclei of the thalamus and hypothalamus, layers I and III of neocortex, substantia nigra compacta, midbrain periaqueductal gray regions, and the parabrachial nuclei of the brainstem. The substantia nigra reticulata, surrounding areas of striatal patches, and the locus ceruleus, were not affected by this drug treatment. These findings demonstrate that chronically administered naltrexone differentially regulates opiate receptors throughout the brain. In particular, three brain systems appear to be target areas of receptor upregulation : (i) the dopamine A9/A10 systems, (ii) the limbic system, and (iii) structures that receive input from afferent sensory pathways. Two possible mechanisms to account for this finding are (i) that the drug does not have uniform effects throughout the brain or (ii) that the receptors themselves may be associated with different functional systems. Receptor density changes are paralleled by increases in methionine-enkephalin content in the striatum, nucleus accumbens, periaqueductal gray, and hypothalamic areas of chronic naltrexone-treated rats relative to control rats. Thus opiate receptors and opioid peptides appear to be subject to regulatory mechanisms similar to those that modulate other neurotransmitters and their receptors. These results document in a visual manner brain patterns of opiate receptor upregulation .

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