European journal of pharmacology
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This study tested whether a 5-HT3 receptor antagonist could reverse the signs of precipitated opioid withdrawal. Rats were treated with either saline or morphine for 4 days. After the four days, half of the rats in each group received naloxone and half received saline. ⋯ Administration of ondansetron to rats receiving naloxone after chronic morphine decreased the intensity of withdrawal signs such as increased defecation, jumping and wet-dog shakes, elevated the nociceptive threshold values which were decreased by precipitated withdrawal, but produced no change in urination, rectal temperature or salivation. The effects exhibited by ondansetron administration may be explained through interference of its 5-HT3 receptor antagonist activity with serotoninergic mechanisms involved in the regulation of these withdrawal symptoms. The use of this drug is thus suggested as a possible treatment of opioid withdrawal signs in heroin addicts.
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The effect of inhibition of nitric oxide synthesis and guanylate cyclase on the peripheral antinociceptive effect of morphine was assessed by using the formalin test in the rat. Saline, N(G)-monomethyl-L-arginine, a nitric oxide synthesis inhibitor (50 microg) and methylene blue, a guanylate cyclase inhibitor (500 microg), did not exhibit any antinociceptive activity. However, morphine (10 microg) produced a significant antinociceptive effect in phases 2a and 2b, which was reduced by pretreatment with either N(G)-monomethyl-L-arginine or methylene blue. These results suggest that the local administration of morphine induces antinociception by the activation of the L-arginine-nitric oxide-cGMP pathway.
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The inhibitory effects of the oral sulfonylurea, glibenclamide, on vasoconstrictor responses to the thromboxane A2 mimic, U46619, were investigated in the pulmonary and hindquarters vascular beds of the cat under constant flow conditions. When lobar arterial tone was at resting conditions (14 +/- 2 mm Hg), intralobar injections of U46619, prostaglandin F2alpha, prostaglandin D2, angiotensin II, norepinephrine, and BAY K 8644 caused dose-related increases in lobar arterial pressure without altering left atrial pressure. Following an intralobar infusion of glibenclamide (5 mg/kg), vasoconstrictor responses to U46619, prostaglandin F2alpha and prostaglandin D2 were significantly reduced, whereas vasoconstrictor responses to norepinephrine and angiotensin II were not altered and responses to BAY K 8644 were significantly enhanced. ⋯ Hindquarters vasodilator responses to levcromakalim, but not to nitric oxide, were decreased significantly following administration of glibenclamide. These data suggest that glibenclamide, in addition to inhibiting K+-ATP channels, has thromboxane A2 receptor blocking activity in the pulmonary vascular bed of the cat. These data also suggest that vasoconstrictor responses to U46619 may be mediated by different thromboxane A2 receptors with different binding affinities in the pulmonary and in the hindquarters vascular beds of the cat.