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It has been previously established that a bulbar relay plays an important role in descending inhibition of spinal dorsal horn nociceptive neurons and nociceptive reflexes produced by stimulation in the midbrain periaqueductal gray (PAG). In the present study, selected receptor antagonists were microinjected into the medial medullary nucleus raphe magnus (NRM) to determine whether descending inhibition of the tail flick (TF) reflex in the rat produced by focal electrical stimulation in the midbrain PAG was mediated by serotonin, opioid, or glutamate receptors on bulbospinal neurons in the NRM. It was determined in initial experiments that the serotonin receptor antagonist methysergide, the opioid receptor antagonist naloxone, the local anesthetic lidocaine, and the glutamate receptor antagonists gamma-D-glutamylglycine (DGG) and DL-2-amino-5-phosphonovalerate (APV) microinjected into the medulla all significantly increased the threshold of focal electrical stimulation in the medulla required to inhibit the TF reflex. The antinociceptive efficacy of agonists at opioid, serotonin, and glutamate receptors was also tested in other experiments. The microinjection of morphine (2.5-10 micrograms) into the NRM increased significantly TF latencies in a dose-dependent manner in rats in the awake or lightly anesthetized state; morphine was more potent in awake rats. Inhibition of the TF reflex produced by the microinjection of morphine was reversed by a subsequent microinjection of naloxone into the same site in the medulla. The microinjection of serotonin (5 and 10 micrograms), however, did not affect the latency of the TF reflex in either awake or lightly anesthetized rats. Glutamate (100 microM, 0.5 microliter) microinjected into the rostral ventral medulla produced an inhibition of the TF reflex of short duration that could be blocked or attenuated significantly by the glutamate receptor antagonists DGG or APV microinjected into the same site. In subsequent experiments, a nonspecific functional block was introduced adjacent to the NRM bilaterally in the medullary reticular formations (MRFs) by the microinjection of the local anesthetic lidocaine; receptor antagonists were then microinjected into the NRM and their effect on the threshold of focal electrical stimulation in the PAG to inhibit the TF reflex determined. No increase was seen in stimulation thresholds in the PAG following the microinjection of either methysergide or naloxone into the NRM. Following the microinjection of lidocaine, DGG or APV into the NRM, the stimulation threshold in the PAG for inhibition of the TF reflex was increased significantly.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Neurons in the medullary reticular formation (MRF) contained within the nuclei reticularis gigantocellularis and reticularis paragigantocellularis were evaluated for their responses to morphine administered in the periaqueductal gray (PAG) and iontophoresed at the recording site. Morphine had a predominant excitatory effect on neurons in the MRF whether microinjected in the PAG or iontophoresed at the recording locus. Although morphine generally excited neurons in the MRF when administered at either site, examination of individual neurons for their responses to both modes of administration of morphine indicated that the effect produced by morphine administered in the PAG was rarely mimicked by morphine iontophoresed at the recording locus. Moreover, morphine administered in the PAG markedly attenuated the noxious evoked excitatory response of MRF neurons, an effect not reliably produced by morphine iontophoresed in the MRF when microinjected in the PAG is not mediated by an enkephalinergic interneurons. The implications of these results on the role of the MRF in opiate-induced antinociception are discussed.

The dimethyl derivative of dopamine is the most active agent for inhibiting responses induced by sympathetic nerve stimulation. The compound is also a vasopressor. The diethyl and dipropyl derivatives slowed heart rate and lowered arterial pressure. The dibutyl derivative appeared to be inactive. On intravenous infusion into dogs, the dimethyl, diethyl and dipropyl derivatives are rapid in onset for altering blood pressure and slowing heart rate. During a 25 min infusion period there was no evidence of tachyphylaxis. Following infusion of the compounds, inhibition of response to neural stimulation and hypotensive properties were terminated within minutes. The compounds are potent, short acting inhibitors of adrenergic transmission and apparently are acting through dopamine receptors located at presynaptic sites. A ganglionic inhibitory component may also contribute to diminished adrenergic activity.

The lateral reticular nucleus (LRN) in the caudal ventrolateral medulla has been implicated in the regulation of spinal nociceptive transmission and hemodynamics. Experiments were undertaken to examine the relationship between inhibition of the tail flick reflex and cardiovascular effects produced by electrical stimulation in the LRN in rats lightly anesthetized with pentobarbital. Intensity- and frequency-dependent increases in mean arterial pressure and vascular resistance in the hindquarter, mesenteric, renal and caudal arterial beds were observed. Inhibition of the tail flick reflex, however, occurred at intensities of electrical stimulation which produced no significant changes in mean arterial pressure or vascular resistance in any of the arterial beds studied. Selective stimulation of cell bodies in the LRN by microinjection of glutamate similarly inhibited the tail flick reflex but produced significant reductions in mean arterial pressure, without substantially affecting regional vascular resistances. These results suggest that the antinociceptive and depressor effects of stimulation in the LRN are mediated by activation of cell bodies, while pressor effects produced by focal electrical stimulation are mediated by activation of fibers of passage. The descending inhibition produced by stimulation in the LRN is independent of stimulation-produced cardiovascular responses.

A modified filtration method for in vitro receptor binding was used to determine specific binding of [3H]naloxone to small regions of adult rat brain. Reliable determinations of ligand binding were quantified with about 50 micrograms of protein per assay tube. Large differences in [3H]naloxone binding were obtained between various brain nuclei, and these differences were consistent with prior determinations of opiate receptor densities in various rat brain nuclei using autoradiographic techniques.

1. The effect of morphine or clonidine administered systemically on visceral and cutaneous spinal nociceptive transmission was examined in 45 dorsal horn neurons in spinalized, decerebrate rats: 17 "cutaneous" dorsal horn neurons located in the L3-L5 spinal segments were excited by heating the glabrous skin of the hindpaw (48 degrees C, 15 s) and 28 "visceral" dorsal horn neurons located in the T13-L2 spinal segments were excited by colorectal distension (80 mmHg, 20 s). The 28 visceral dorsal horn neurons were subclassified as 18 short-latency abrupt neurons (SL-A), which were excited by colorectal distension at short latency (less than 1 s) and whose activity abruptly returned to base line following termination of the distending stimulus, and as 10 short-latency-sustained (SL-S) neurons, which also were excited at short latency (less than 1 s) by colorectal distension, but whose activity was sustained above base line for 4-31 s following termination of the distending stimulus. 2. Morphine produced a dose-dependent, naloxone-reversible inhibition of both spontaneous activity and/or neuronal responses during heating or colorectal distension of 8 SL-A, 7 SL-S, and 11 cutaneous dorsal horn neurons. Comparison of the effective doses of morphine to produce a 50% reduction in the response of the neurons (ED50s) during colorectal distension or heating demonstrated that, at the intensities of distension and heating employed, SL-S neurons were affected at the least dosage (ED50 = 0.46 mumol/kg), followed by SL-A neurons (ED50 = 1.95 mumol/kg) and cutaneous neurons (ED50 = 6.12 mumol/kg). Effects on spontaneous activity were variable: at low doses morphine produced an increase in the spontaneous activity of 2 SL-A and 5 cutaneous neurons; greater doses (up to 42 mumol/kg) inhibited in all of the SL-A and SL-S neurons, but not three cutaneous neurons studied. With the exclusion of these three neurons, the ED50s for inhibition of spontaneous activity were comparable to the ED50s for inhibition of neuronal responses during colorectal distension or heating of the hindpaw in all three neuronal groups. 3. Clonidine produced a dose-dependent, yohimbine- or phentolamine-reversible inhibition of both spontaneous activity and neuronal responses during heating or colorectal distension of 10 SL-A, 3 SL-S, and 6 cutaneous dorsal horn neurons.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

The development of tolerance to behavioral effects of morphine was investigated in rats that responded on a two-lever, multiple-trial, multiple differential-reinforcement-of-low-rate fixed-ratio (mult DRL FR) schedule of food presentation. Stable performances were maintained when sessions were conducted just twice per week. The effects of cumulative doses of morphine (1.0-8.0 mg/kg) or chlordiazepoxide (CDP; 4.0-32.0 mg/kg) were evaluated once per week; saline injections were given in the intervening sessions. The effects of saline and morphine on nociception were also evaluated in hot-plate tests conducted on the same subjects 15 min after selected operant sessions. Initially, morphine produced dose-related decreases in response rates and reinforcement rates in the DRL and FR components as well as significant increases in hot-plate response latencies. Following weekly administration of morphine (1.0-8.0 mg/kg) for 10 weeks, there was little or no tolerance to its effects on operant behavior. In contrast, complete tolerance developed to the antinociceptive effects of morphine. These results suggest that tolerance to various behavioral effects of morphine may be dissociated, and that the loss of reinforcement may be insufficient by itself to produce tolerance to effects of morphine on operant behavior. Additionally, whereas CDP initially produced only dose-related decreases in DRL and FR response rates, following weekly morphine the smaller doses of CDP (4.0-16.0 mg/kg) produced increases in response rates.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

The effects of s.c. capsaicin treatment on the contents of immunoreactive substance P (ISP) in several peripheral and central nervous system tissues were examined in normotensive Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) and spontaneously hypertensive (SHR) rats. Significant differences between vehicle-treated subjects of the WKY and SHR strains were observed in the ISP contents of both superior cervical and celiac sympathetic ganglia. Capsaicin pretreatment significantly reduced the ISP contents of both sympathetic ganglia in both strains. Capsaicin pretreatment significantly elevated the ISP contents of adrenal medullae only in rats of the SHR strain. The effects of s.c. capsaicin administration on the ISP contents of several selected isolated brain nuclei were also examined. No statistically significant strain or treatment differences in the SIP contents of the nucleus tractus solitarii nucleus locus ceruleus and periaqueductal central gray were observed. The ISP contents of the nucleus raphe magnus, periventricular preoptic area, and nucleus amygdaloideus medialis were significantly greater in vehicle-treated SHR rats than in vehicle-treated WKY animals. Capsaicin pretreatment significantly increased the ISP contents of both the periventricular preoptic area and nucleus amygdaloideus medialis in SHR rats. These results indicate that the effects of capsaicin treatment of the ISP contents of nervous systems tissues vary with both the tissues examined and the strain of rat. In addition, the previously reported long-lasting hypotensive effect produced by capsaicin in both the WKY and SHR strains may be related to the significant depletion of the ISP contents in peripheral sympathetic ganglia in both strains.

The lateral reticular nucleus (LRN) in the caudal ventrolateral medulla has been implicated in descending monoaminergic modulation of spinal nociceptive transmission. Experiments were undertaken to examine the organization of pontine and spinal pathways mediating inhibition of the tail-flick (TF) reflex from the LRN in rats lightly anesthetized with pentobarbital. Microinjections of the local anesthetic lidocaine ipsilaterally or bilaterally into the dorsolateral pons blocked stimulation-produced inhibition of the TF reflex from the nucleus locus coeruleus/subcoeruleus (LC/SC), but had no effect on descending inhibition produced by microinjection of glutamate into the LRN. Thus, adrenergic modulation of the TF reflex from the LRN is not mediated by activation of spinopetal noradrenergic neurons in the LC/SC. The funicular course of descending inhibition produced by focal electrical stimulation in the LRN was studied in separate groups of rats by reversibly (local anesthetic blocks) or irreversibly (surgical transection) compromising conduction in the dorsolateral funiculi (DLFs) at the level of the cervical spinal cord. Bilateral lidocaine blocks in the DLFs significantly shortened control TF latencies and more than doubled the intensity of electrical stimulation in the LRN necessary to inhibit the TF reflex (153 +/- 29% increase from control); changes in these parameters produced by unilateral blocks of the DLFs were not statistically significant. Ipsilateral or bilateral transections of the DLFs significantly increased the intensity of electrical stimulation in the LRN to inhibit the TF reflex (110 +/- 24% and 265 +/- 46% from control, respectively). Neither lidocaine blocks nor transections of the DLFs completely blocked the descending inhibitory effects of electrical stimulation in the LRN. The DLFs appear to carry fibers mediating LRN stimulation-produced inhibition of the TF reflex as well as tonic descending inhibition of spinal reflexes. The results of the present study indicate that (1) adrenergic modulation of the nociceptive TF reflex from the LRN does not depend on a rostral loop through the pontine LC/SC, and (2) descending inhibitory influences from the LRN are contained in, but not confined to, the dorsal quadrants of the spinal cord.

1. The modulation of spinal nociceptive transmission from the lateral reticular nucleus (LRN) was characterized for 47 spinal dorsal horn neurons in pentobarbital-anesthetized, paralyzed rats. All 47 units studied had receptive fields confined to the glabrous skin of the plantar surface of the ipsilateral hind foot and responded to mechanical stimulation as well as noxious heating (50 degrees C). Rostral projections contained in the ventrolateral quadrant of the cervical spinal cord were demonstrated for 15 of the 47 units by antidromic invasion. Glutamate- and stimulation-produced descending inhibition, the spinal pathway, and tonic descending inhibition from the LRN were systematically examined. 2. Inhibition of unit responses to heating of the skin by electrical stimulation in the LRN varied with the intensity, pulse duration (100 or 400 microseconds), and frequency (25-100 Hz) of stimulation. Greater inhibition was produced at lower intensities of stimulation with the 400-microseconds pulse duration and a frequency of 100 Hz. The effects of stimulation on spontaneous activity and responses to heat were compared in 16 experiments; inhibition of spontaneous activity was intensity dependent and did not differ significantly in magnitude from stimulation-produced inhibition of responses to heating of the skin. 3. Tracking experiments established that stimulation in the ipsilateral and contralateral ventrolateral medulla reliably attenuated unit responses to noxious heating of the skin and that stimulation in the LRN produced maximal inhibition at a low intensity of stimulation. Descending inhibition was quantitatively characterized from sites within (n = 32) and outside (n = 30) the LRN. Both the extrapolated mean stimulation threshold for inhibition and mean intensity inhibiting unit responses to heat to 50% of control were significantly lower for sites in the LRN. 4. The responses of seven spinal units to graded noxious heating of the skin were studied; all exhibited linear monotonic stimulus-response functions (SRFs) throughout the temperature range examined (42-50 degrees C). Electrical stimulation in the LRN significantly decreased the slope (42 +/- 4% of control) of the SRFs and increased the neuronal response threshold (2.0 +/- 0.7 degrees C). 5. S-glutamate (50 nmol, 0.5 microliter) was microinjected into stimulation sites within (n = 15) and distant from (n = 6) the LRN. Glutamate produced a transient (less than 7 min) but significant attenuation of neuronal responses to heat to 35 +/- 6% of control only when microinjected into the LRN.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

1. One-hundred thirty-two neurons responsive to colorectal distension in the dorsal horn of the T13-L2 spinal segments of 35 spinalized and 7 intact, deeply pentobarbital-sodium-anesthetized rats were characterized for convergent cutaneous receptive fields, long ascending projections and responses to the intra-arterial administration of the algesic peptide bradykinin. All but 9 neurons had an identifiable excitatory cutaneous receptive field; all receptive fields were located on the lower abdomen, flank, and dorsal body surface. Electrical stimulation in the cutaneous fields of 28 neurons demonstrated that neurons responsive to colorectal distension receive afferent information carried by A- and C-fibers. Stimulus-response functions (SRFs) of 52 neurons excited by graded colorectal distension (20-100 mmHg, 20 s) were monotonic and accelerating, allowing extrapolation of threshold distending pressures to neuronal response. Neurons were subdivided into four classes based upon their response to an 80-mmHg, 20-s colorectal distension search stimulus. 2. Short-latency abrupt [SL-A] neurons (spinalized, n = 46; intact, n = 9) were excited at short latency; activity abruptly returned to base line on termination of distension. Six of 9 neurons in intact rats had long ascending projections as demonstrated by antidromic invasion from the contralateral, ventrolateral caudal medulla. Responses of SL-A neurons to colorectal distension were significantly greater in spinalized than in intact rats. Fifty-three of 55 SL-A neurons had convergent excitatory cutaneous receptive fields and most were responsive to both noxious and nonnoxious stimuli. Ten of 13 neurons tested were excited by intra-arterial bradykinin. The threshold distending pressure, determined from the SRFs of 29 neurons in both the spinalized and intact states, extrapolated to near 0 mmHg. 3. Short-latency sustained (SL-S) neurons (spinalized, n = 31; intact, n = 11) were also excited at short latency in response to colorectal distension, but responses were sustained for 4-50 s following termination of the distending stimulus. Nine of 11 SL-S neurons in intact rats had long ascending projections. All 42 SL-S neurons were spontaneously active and 41 of 42 had convergent excitatory cutaneous receptive fields, excited exclusively by noxious stimuli (n = 29) or excited by both noxious and nonnoxious stimuli (n = 12). Responses to colorectal distension and spontaneous activity were significantly greater in spinalized rats. Twelve of 12 neurons tested were excited by intra-arterial bradykinin.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

The ability of morphine to depress serum levels of luteinizing hormone (LH) directly at extra-hypothalamic sites was examined in male rats with guide cannulae implanted bilaterally in either the amygdala or the periaqueductal central gray (PAG). While no alterations in serum levels of LH in blood sampled via a chronic jugular catheter were observed following the microinjection of morphine, naloxone or artificial CSF in the amygdala or the PAG of intact males, serum levels of LH were significantly depressed in castrated rats following intracranial administration of morphine bilaterally in the cortical amygdala or the PAG. The intracranial administration of naloxone bilaterally in the PG likewise significantly elevated serum levels of LH in castrated rats. These data further establish the amygdala and the PAG as extrahypothalamic sites which can directly mediate the opiate-induced effects on LH.

Rats were implanted subcutaneously for 2-4 weeks with slow-release pellets of naltrexone (10 mg) or placebo and then the pellets were removed. One day after removal of the pellet, animals were either (1) sacrificed and various CNS regions examined for specific binding of [3H]naloxone, [3H]etorphine or [3H]rauwolscine or (2) they were anesthetized and prepared acutely for assessing morphine-induced changes in the spontaneous activity of neurons in the locus coeruleus (LC). Naltrexone treatment significantly increased the number of specific binding sites for opiates, but not for alpha 2-adrenergic antagonists, in spinal cord, hypothalamus, striatum and cortex. Specific binding of [3H]naloxone was also increased in the LC. The spontaneous activity of neurons in the LC was reduced by the chronic naltrexone treatment, suggesting that these neurons became supersensitive to the tonic inhibitory effect of endogenous opioid peptides. Moreover, neurons in the LC of chronic naltrexone-treated rats exhibited an enhanced response to the inhibitory effects of morphine administered systemically. These results demonstrate that chronic opiate receptor blockade increases the number of receptor sites for morphine and that this increase in receptors is accompanied by a neuronal supersensitivity in the LC to morphine which can be assessed electrophysiologically.

Effects of s.c. capsaicin pretreatment on nociception, mean systemic arterial blood pressure, and dose-response curves for depressor effects of substance P (SP) and pressor effects of angiotension II (AII) and norepinephrine (NE) were examined in normotensive Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Capsaicin pretreatment significantly elevated hot plate and tail flick latencies in SHR subjects but was without effect in WKY rats. Capsaicin pretreatment significantly reduced mean systemic arterial blood pressure in rats of both strains. Both vehicle- and capsaicin-treated WKY subjects exhibited greater depressor responses than did subjects of the corresponding SHR groups after i.v. SP administration. Vehicle-treated SHR subjects exhibited greater pressor responses to both AII and NE than did rats of the vehicle-treated WKY group. Capsaicin treatment decreased the sensitivity of WKY rats to the pressor effects of both AII and NE. Strain differences involving nociception, cardiovascular regulation, and responses to capsaicin may underly the results reported.

The administration of morphine or opioid peptides produces alterations in the neuroendocrine regulation of anterior pituitary hormone secretion, including the depression of serum levels of luteinizing hormone (LH). Central nervous system sites mediating the opioid-induced depression of serum levels of LH are not well understood. Discrete bilateral electrolytic lesions of amygdaloid nuclei or the periaqueductal central gray (PAG) were employed to investigate the role of these extrahypothalamic regions in the morphine-induced depression of serum levels of LH in the male rat. Lesions of the cortical amygdaloid nucleus, but not the medical, central or basolateral nuclei, significantly attenuated the depression of serum levels of LH 60 min following the acute administration of morphine (7.5 mg/kg). These results were independently replicated in different 10- and 22-day postlesion studies. Bilateral lesions of the medial region of the PAG, which did not encroach upon the dorsal raphe nucleus, elevated basal levels of serum LH. While morphine-treated subjects with bilateral lesions of the PGH exhibited significantly elevated serum levels of LH compared to sham lesion control subjects, no attenuation of the morphine-induced depression of serum levels of LH was observed 21 days following lesions of the PAG. These results indicate that the cortical nucleus of the amygdala, but not other amygdaloid nuclei or the PAG, is an extrahypothalamic site involved in the mediation of narcotic-induced changes in gonadotropin secretion in the male rat.

The antinociceptive activity of morphine administered intracerebrally in the periaqueductal gray or intrathecally was compared in adult male rats in the awake and lightly pentobarbital-anesthetized states. The potency of morphine administered intrathecally was the same in both the awake and lightly anesthetized states. In contrast, the antinociceptive potency of morphine administered intracerebrally was attenuated significantly in the lightly anesthetized state. It is suggested that pentobarbital depresses the descending inhibitory pathway(s) activated by morphine administered in the periaqueductal gray.