Clinical neuropharmacology
-
The body has an endogenous analgesic system that prevents excess pain from interfering with the normal body functions. Depression of pain sensations occurs within the dorsal horn of the spinal cord where the primary pain fibers, which transmit pain sensations from the periphery, synapse with neurons that transmit pain to the higher centers. There appear to be two mechanisms by which the transmission of pain sensations are depressed; these include hyperpolarization of interneurons within the dorsal cord and depressing the release of the neurotransmitters associated with pain transmission. ⋯ Opiate drugs, such as morphine, interact with opioid receptors and produce analgesia by the same mechanisms as enkephalin, i.e., hyperpolarization of interneurons and depressing the release of transmitters associated with transmission of pain. In addition, morphine can interact with opioid receptors located in the supraspinal structures and activate the supraspinal system. Adrenergic drugs that interact with specific receptors also produce analgesia and it has been suggested that morphine interacts with the adrenergic system to produce analgesia.