Logo image
Evidence that β-endorphin is an agonist at bovine pineal δ-opioid receptors
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Evidence that β-endorphin is an agonist at bovine pineal δ-opioid receptors

Vincent J. Aloyo and Paul S. Pazdalski
European journal of pharmacology. Molecular pharmacology section, v 288(3), pp 295-301
1995
PMID: 7774673

Abstract

Pineal gland, bovine β-endorphin δ-Opioid receptor ϵ-Opioid receptor
Since β-endorphin is the putative endogenous ligand for ϵ-opioid receptors, the previous demonstration of saturable, high affinity β-endorphin binding sites on bovine pineal membranes suggests the possible presence of ϵ-opioid receptors. To determine the identity of pineal β-endorphin binding sites, the inhibition of [ 125I]β-endorphin binding by ligands with varying affinities for ϵ-, μ-, δ- or κ-opioid receptors was investigated. A high positive correlation was observed between the K i values for these drugs to inhibit [ 125I]β-endorphin binding to pineal membranes and for these drugs to bind to δ-opioid receptors but not to μ-, κ- or ϵ-opioid receptors, demonstrating that in the pineal β-endorphin binds to δ-opioid receptors. Both NaCl and a GTP analogue were potent inhibitors of [ 125I]β-endorphin binding, providing evidence that β-endorphin is an agonist at pineal δ-opioid receptors. These results suggest that endogenous bovine β-endorphin may modulate pineal function.

Metrics

5 Record Views
6 citations in Scopus

Details

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#3 Good Health and Well-Being

InCites Highlights

Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:

Web of Science research areas
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Logo image