Effect of cerebral ventricles perfusion with morphiceptin and Met-enkephalin on trigemino-hypoglossal reflex in rats.

Opioids administered by intracerebroventricular injections produce analgesic responses in rats. The present study was undertaken to investigate the effects of a highly selective mu-opioid receptor ligand morphiceptin on trigemino-hypoglossal reflex in rats. The analgesic effect of morphiceptin was compared with another opioid peptide, Met-enkephalin. With the experimental settings used in this study, we have demonstrated that both morphiceptin and Met-enkephalin show significant dose-dependent analgesic effects after i.c.v. administration in rats as assayed by trigemino-hypoglossal reflex test. The antinociceptive response to Met-enkephalin was short lasting and was observed 10 to 15 min after i.c.v. perfusion. Morphiceptin had a relatively longer duration of antinociceptive action, the effect was observed 20-50 min after i.c.v. perfusion. Neither morphiceptin nor Met-enkephalin produced antinociception after peripheral injections. The results of the present study indicate that both tested peptides act at mu-opioid receptors situated in the central nervous system. They also suggest that mu-opioid receptors present in the central nervous system are an important element of the trigemino-hypoglossal reflex arc. For that reason selective mu-opioid receptor ligands, like morphiceptin, inhibit the reflex more significantly.