Lysergic acid diethylamide: role in conversion of plasma tryptophan to brain serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine).

Injections of D-lysergic acid diethylamide decrease the turnover rate of 5-hydroxytryptamine of rat brain, as measured from the conversion of (14)C-tryptophan into (14)C-5-hydroxytryptamine. The 2-bromolysergic acid diethylamide given in doses fivefold greater than those of lysergic acid diethylamide fails to change the rate of (14)C-tryptophan conversion into (14)C-5-hydroxytryptamine. The effect of D-lysergic acid diethylamide is discussed with regard to its action on brain serotonergic neurons and its psychotomimetic effects.

Nitrous oxide "analgesia": resemblance to opiate action.

Nitrous oxide produced a dose-related "analgesia" in mice (median effective dose, 55 percent). The analgesia was evaluated by means of a phenylquinone writhing test. Narcotic antagonists or chronic morphinization reduced nitrous oxide analgesia. Either nitrous oxide releases an endogenous analgesic or narcotic antagonists have analgesic antagonist properties heretofore unappreciated.

The diposi tion of morphine in surgical patients.

The disposition of serum morphine following administration of 10 mg/70 kg was determined by a sensitive and specific radioimmunoassay in 31 anethetized surgical patients ranging in age from 23 to 75 yr. Following iv injection, 93 per cent of the morphine disappeared from the serum within 5 min. The early serum levels of the drug (2 min) correlated directly with the patients' ages (r equal to 0.63, p smaller than 0.01). Patient 23 to 50 yr of age averaged 0.29 mug/ml, whereas patients 51 to 75 ur of age averaged 70 percent higher, 0.49 mug/ml. The serum half-life between 10 and 240 min was independent of age and averaged about 2 hr after either iv or im administration. Following im admininstration, morphine was rapidly absorbed, with peak levels occurring within 10 to 20 min. The decline in morphine serum levels paralleled the decline in morphine analgesia and was coincident with the apperance of morphine glucuronide in the serum. These studies demonstrate the applicability and specificity of the radioimmunoassay for morphine and suggest that serum levels of morphine may be a useful and objective indicator of its pharmacologic activity.

Regulation of metaraminol efflux from rat heart and salivary gland.

1. The turnover rate of noradrenaline (NA) in heart and submaxillary salivary gland was studied in rats exposed to 4 degrees C or maintained at room temperature (22 degrees C). Cold exposure increased the turnover of the NA store in heart but not in salivary gland.2. In another series of experiments the decline of metaraminol (M) from heart and submaxillary salivary gland was studied in rats exposed to 4 degrees C or maintained at room temperature. Cold exposure accelerated the efflux of M from heart, but not from salivary gland. It is concluded that the accelerated decline of M from heart is the consequence of selective activation of the sympathetic nerves that innervate the heart.3. The turnover of NA was studied in rat heart after the administration of M (100 mug/kg intravenously) or its precursor alpha-methyl-meta-tyrosine (200 mg/kg intraperitoneally). Turnover remained essentially normal after these drugs.4. The administration of desipramine (DMI, 20 mg/kg intraperitoneally) 1 hr after M (100 mug/kg intravenously) induced a rapid sustained efflux of M from heart and salivary gland. The results of this study suggest that the slow decline of M from heart is the result of the great affinity of the amine retrieval mechanism in sympathetic nerve endings for M. DMI inhibits the retrieval mechanism, thus accelerating the efflux of M.

Disposition of propranolol isomers in mice.

l-Propranolol was found to protect mice from hyperbaric oxygen-induced seizures. The disposition of effective doses of propranolol isomers in mice was followed using stereospecific antibodies with a radioimmunoassay procedure. Serum and tissue concentrations were determined and correlated with the protective effect. Following racemic administration, there were no differences in serum disposition of d- and l-propranolol, although there was initially a preferential uptake of the 1-isomer both into cardiac and brain tissue. The d-isomer exerted synergistic action on the 1-isomer protective effect.

Opiate receptor mediation of ketamine analgesia.

Previous workers have noted that analgesia produced by ketamine can be antagonized by the narcotic antagonist, naloxone. In order to elaborate further the apparent similarity between ketamine- and narcotic-induced analgesia, the authors examined the effects of ketamine in three standard test systems for the opiate receptor. In a radioligand binding assay using 3H-dihydromorphine, ketamine stereospecifically bound to opiate receptors in rat brain homogenate, (+) ketamine being 2-3 times more potent than the (-) enantiomer of ketamine. In a bioassay for the opiate receptor, using the longitudinal muscle-myenteric plexus of the guinea pig ileum, ketamine inhibited the twitch-like muscular contractions, as do narcotics. However, only the inhibitory effects of (+) ketamine, which in this system also was twice as potent as (-) ketamine, could be partially antagonized by naloxone, suggesting that this enantiomer is responsible for the opiate receptor-related effects of ketamine. In vivo, the authors found that ketamine displaces 3H-etorphine, a potent narcotic, from opiate receptors in regional areas of the mouse brain, especially in the thalamic region, but not in the cortex. The results suggest that a significant mechanism of ketamine-induced analgesia is mediated by opiate receptors.

Prolonged exposure to nitrous oxide decreased opiate receptor density in rat brainstem.

Groups of rats were exposed to air or 80 per cent nitrous oxide for 30 min or 18 h, following which the brainstem opiate receptor density and the apparent affinity of these receptors to the radiolabeled agonist, 3H-dihydromorphine, were assayed, Thirty-minute exposure to nitrous oxide did not change opiate receptor characteristics, immediately or 17.5 h later. However, prolonged exposure to nitrous oxide (18 h) decreased the brainstem opiate receptor density approximately 20 per cent, without a change in apparent receptor affinity. These results support the view that nitrous-oxide-induced analgesia results from release of endogenous opiate-like substances. Continued presence of these substances in turn results in a decrease in opiate receptor density and may account for the development of tolerance to the analgesic action of nitrous oxide.

Acetylcholine concentrations and turnover in rat brain structures during anesthesia with halothane, enflurane, and ketamine.

Acetylcholine and choline concentrations in brain structures of rats during anesthesia with halothane (0.7-1.0 per cent inspired), enflurane (2.7-3.0 per cent, inspired) and ketamine (40 mg/kg, iv) were measured by gas chromatography. The turnover rate (biosynthesis) of acetylcholine in vivo was estimated by infusing phosphoryl(Me-14C)choline intravenously, determining specific activities of choline and acetylcholine, and applying principles of steady-state kinetics to compute the fractional rate constant of acetylcholine. Acetylcholine concentrations in brain structures did not change during anesthesia. Halothane decreased the acetylcholine turnover rates in all parts of the brain. Enflurane decreased the acetylcholine turnover rate in the cerebral cortex only, but not in the caudate nucleus, the hippocampus, and the hypothalamic and thalamic regions. During anesthesia with ketamine, acetylcholine turnover rates were reduced in the caudate nucleus and the hippocampus, but not in the cerebral cortex and the hypothalamic and thalamic regions. The results suggest that acetylcholine turnover rate and utilization are related to anesthetic induced electrophysiologic changes in cortical and subcortical structures.

Nitrous oxide selectively releases Met5-enkephalin and Met5-enkephalin-Arg6-Phe7 into canine third ventricular cerebrospinal fluid.

The role of the opioid receptor-endogenous opioid peptide system in mediating analgesia induced by nitrous oxide has been a controversial subject. Most previous studies provided only indirect evidence either to support or refute the involvement of opioid receptors and/or endogenous opioid peptides. To provide more direct evidence, we measured concentrations of five naturally occurring endogenous opioid peptides in third ventricular cerebrospinal fluid from eight acclimated dogs with chronically implanted ventricular catheters. Paired samples of cerebrospinal fluid were obtained from each animal when breathing room air or 66-75 vol% nitrous oxide in oxygen through a face mask. Endogenous opioid peptides were physically separated using reversed phase high-performance liquid chromatography and quantified using radioimmunoassays. Nitrous oxide inhalation increased cerebrospinal fluid concentrations of met5-enkephalin from a control value of 0.30 +/- 0.07 (mean +/- SEM, n = 8) to 42.4 +/- 8.1 pmol/mL (P = 0.0006). Increases ranged from 28 to more than 400 times the control value. Met5-enkephalin-arg6-phe7 concentrations also increased from 14.5 +/- 2.5 to 57.6 +/- 17.8 pmol/mL (P = 0.018). No significant changes were noted in concentrations of dynorphin A, dynorphin B, or beta-endorphin. These results directly support the hypothesis that nitrous-oxide-induced analgesia involves the proenkephalin-derived family of endogenous opioid peptides.

Antagonism of nitrous oxide analgesia by naloxone in man.

The possible reversal of nitrous oxide analgesia by naloxone was investigated. Two studies were conducted in 21 healthy male subjects, who responded to ischemic pain produced by tourniquet applied to the upper arm for 15 min, while breathing air or nitrous oxide, 33 per cent. Using a double-blind procedure, the subjects received intravenous injections of naloxone and saline solution on different days. In eight subjects, naloxone, 8 mg, administered without nitrous oxide, had no effect on pain report. However, unlike saline solution, naloxone, 8 mg, decreased significantly the analgesia induced by nitrous oxide. In 13 subjects, naloxone, 4 mg, also decreased significantly the effect of nitrous oxide analgesia in comparison with saline solution. Naloxone showed its reversal effect mainly on sensory response rating obtained during the painful stages of ischemia, between 11 and 15 min. The results suggest that analgesia induced by nitrous oxide may be partly related to the opiate receptor--endorphin system in man.

Nitrous oxide analgesia: reversal by naloxone and development of tolerance.

The objective of this study was to characterize further the nature of nitrous oxide analgesia and to establish if tolerance to nitrous oxide occurs. Methods for studying the analgesic action of a gas are described. In mice, nitrous oxide is analgesic in the phenylquinone and acetic acid abdominal constriction tests. Aspirin and very high doses of alcohol are also active in these tests; however, only nitrous oxide-induced analgesia is antagonized by narcotic antagonists. These data indicate the mechanism of action of nitrous oxide analgesia differs from that of the other two drugs. Nitrous oxide produced a dose-related analgesic response in rats (ED50, 67%) as measured by the tail-flick method. Naloxone, 5 to 30 mg/kg, also antagonized nitrous oxide analgesia in rats. Lower doses of the antagonist were not effective. Tolerance developed to the effects of nitrous oxide in both rats and mice after prolonged exposure. These data lend support to the hypothesis that nitrous oxide and opiates have a significant pharmacologic resemblance and may ultimately produce similar molecular events in the brain leading to the relief of pain.

Antagonism of general anesthesia by naloxone in the rat.

The effect of naloxone, a narcotic antagonist, on the response of animals to painful stimuli during anesthesia was studied. Rats were anesthetized with cyclopropane, halothane, or enflurane in groups of 12. Following induction, inspired anesthetic concentration was gradually reduced to a point at which 35-60 per cent of animals responded to tail clamping. Thereafter the anesthetic concentration was held constant for 30 minutes. Rats in each group then received saline solution or naloxone, 10mg/kg, given intravenously. The response to tail clamping was retested 5 minutes later. In additional experiments EEG's were recorded from rats anesthesized with one of these anesthetics. After a stable light plane of anesthesia had been attained, each animal was given naloxone, 10 mg/kg, iv, and the EEG recorded for an additional 5 minutes. In the tail-clamping experiments, naloxone approximately doubled the number of rats responding during cyclopropane, halothane, or enflurane anesthesia. The EEG patterns of several animals anesthetized with either cyclopropane or halothane changed to patterns consistent with lighter planes of anesthesia after naloxone administration. That naloxone alters the depth of inhalational anesthesia suggests that anesthetics may release an endogenous morphine-like factor (MLF) in the central nervous system.

Morphine tolerance decreases the analgesic effects of ketamine in mice.

Previous studies have shown that ketamine interacts with opiate receptors, and it has been suggested that ketamine-induced analgesia is mediated through opiate receptors. If so, ketamine should produce less analgesia in morphine tolerant animals, just as morphine does. To test this hypothesis, the analgesic effects of ketamine were tested in mice implanted with placebo pellets and in mice made tolerant to morphine through implantation of morphine pellets, using the abdominal constriction test. The test consisted of ip injection of 1% acetic acid, which caused stretching of hind limbs and constriction of abdominal muscles, also called writing. The number of writhes was counted for each mouse 10-15 min following acetic acid injection. Morphine pellet implanted mice treated with saline writhed 12.2 +/- 0.8 times (mean +/- SEM), not significantly different from 9.8 +/- 0.9 times seen in placebo pellet implanted mice. Treatment of the animals with ketamine at three doses of 20, 25, and 30 mg/kg, subcutaneously (sc), reduced the number of writhes in the placebo pellet implanted group to 5.8 +/- 0.8, 4.2 +/- 0.7, and 1.3 +/- 0.3, respectively. In the morphine pellet-implanted group, with the same doses of ketamine, the numbers of writhes were 10 +/- 0.9, 9.3 +/- 1.1, and 5.2 +/- 0.9, respectively. Morphine-tolerant animals writhed significantly more at each dose of ketamine, indicating that they were cross tolerant to the analgesic effects of ketamine.

Tolerance to nitrous oxide analgesia in rats and mice.

The purpose of these experiments was to characterize the nature of tolerance to the analgesic action of nitrous oxide. Analgesia was assessed in rats using a tail-flick latency test and in mice using an abdominal constriction test. Rats and mice were exposed to nitrous oxide, 75 per cent, the balance oxygen, continuously for 16--18 hours. On re-exposure to nitrous oxide 30 min later, these animals were found tolerant to nitrous oxide in that the analgesic response was decreased by at least 50 per cent. Animals tolerant to nitrous oxide were not tolerant to morphine. Morphine (0.25--1.5 mg/kg) produced equal degrees of analgesia in control and nitrous oxide-tolerant mice and rats. In contrast, rats made tolerant to morphine by repeated daily injections of as much as 400 mg/kg subcutaneously or by subcutaneous implantation of morphine pellets (75 mg, twice) showed a decreased analgesic response to nitrous oxide. Thus the cross-tolerance between nitrous oxide and morphine appears unique in that it is unidirectional.