Kappa-opioid restraint of oxytocin secretion: plasticity through pregnancy

Neuroendocrinology
G LengR J Bicknell

Abstract

Oxytocin neurone terminals display a powerful opioid-mediated auto-inhibitory mechanism which restrains secretory activity. In pregnancy, upregulation of this mechanism may underlie the accumulation of large stores of oxytocin in the pituitary. In the present study, conscious pregnant rats were cannulated to allow blood samples to be taken for measurement of oxytocin secretion in response to intravenous administration of cholecystokinin (CCK). In each rat, we measured the secretory response to CCK before and after administration of norbinaltorphine (norBNI), a selective kappa-opioid antagonist, or of naloxone, a relatively mu-selective antagonist. Throughout pregnancy, the stimulatory effect of CCK was enhanced by prior administration of norBNI. In pregnant rats norBNI also consistently increased basal oxytocin secretion, while naloxone had no effect, suggesting that in pregnancy there is active restraint of oxytocin secretion by endogenous opioids acting at kappa-receptors. However, in late pregnancy, between days 17 and 20, there was a significant reduction in the efficacy of norBNI in potentiating the oxytocin release in response to CCK, compared to its efficacy either in non-pregnant rats or in rats between days 8 and 13 of...Continue Reading

Citations

Sep 28, 2010·Brain Research·Paula J Brunton, John A Russell
Mar 1, 2003·Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology·John A RussellAlison J Douglas
Sep 24, 1999·Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior·C M Miranda-Paiva, L F Felicio
Mar 24, 2000·Theriogenology·C L GilbertT J McGrath
Mar 11, 2000·Neuroscience Research·C H BrownG Leng
Apr 30, 1999·Progress in Neurobiology·G LengJ A Russell
Oct 17, 1998·Neuropharmacology·R W CarónJ A Russell
Oct 12, 2010·Brain Research Bulletin·Melinda SoborSusanna Fürst
Mar 31, 2010·Journal of Clinical Pharmacology·Mark S MorrisSteven E Domino
Jul 21, 2011·Journal of Neuroendocrinology·S R LadymanD R Grattan
Nov 29, 2005·Neuroscience·J A Russell, P J Brunton
Dec 17, 2015·Journal of Neuroendocrinology·Rachael A AugustineColin H Brown
Nov 20, 2018·Journal of Neuroendocrinology·Gareth Leng, John A Russell
Dec 13, 2007·Nature Reviews. Neuroscience·Paula J Brunton, John A Russell
May 15, 2020·Journal of Neuroendocrinology·Colin H BrownJavier E Stern
May 17, 2001·American Journal of Physiology. Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology·J E Stern, M Ludwig
Mar 29, 2001·Physiological Reviews·G Gimpl, F Fahrenholz
Nov 19, 2003·The European Journal of Neuroscience·Philip M BullJohn A Russell
Apr 4, 2021·Neurotoxicology and Teratology·Chela M WallinSusanne Brummelte

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