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Role of Immune Processes in Peripheral Opioid Analgesia

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The Brain Immune Axis and Substance Abuse

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 373))

Abstract

The general consensus is that the antinociceptive (analgesic) effects of opioids are mediated by opioid receptors within the central nervous system (CNS). There is increasing evidence, however, that, under certain circumstances, peripheral sites of opioid action may also become involved in pain modulation. A prerequisite for the manifestation of such peripheral effects seems to be inflammation of the tissue from which the nociceptive impulses arise. This is exemplified by experiments including local injection of a variety of inflammatory agents such as prostaglandins, carrageenan, formalin, Freund’s adjuvant etc. Under such conditions opioids may induce antinociceptive effects by activation of peripheral opioid receptors (1, 2, 3, 4, 5). Very little, however, is known about the underlying mechanisms, e.g. the significance of inflammatory and immunological processes, the participation of various opioid receptor types, the role of endogenous opioid peptides and the intrinsic mechanisms involved in peripheral opioid analgesia. Some of these questions are discussed in this paper on the basis of experiments performed in this laboratory over the last couple of years (6,7). Pharmacological, histochemical and immunological methods were used to analyse the mechanisms underlying the antinociceptive effects of exogenously applied and/or endogenously released opioids.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neuropharmacology, Max-Planck-Institute for Psychiatry, Am Klopferspitz 18a, Planegg-Martinsried, D-82152, FRG, USA

    Albert Herz

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  1. Albert Herz
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Hennepin County Medical Center and University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

    Burt M. Sharp

  2. Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

    Toby K. Eisenstein

  3. Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

    John J. Madden

  4. University of South Florida College of Medicine, Tampa, Florida, USA

    Herman Friedman

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© 1995 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Herz, A. (1995). Role of Immune Processes in Peripheral Opioid Analgesia. In: Sharp, B.M., Eisenstein, T.K., Madden, J.J., Friedman, H. (eds) The Brain Immune Axis and Substance Abuse. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 373. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-1951-5_27

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-1951-5_27

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-5801-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-1951-5

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