Gastric emptying and small bowel transit times in volunteers after intravenous morphine and nalbuphine

Abstract

Summary Gustrii. emptying halfltinie.y and small intestinal transit times were measured in a double Key wordsAnulgesics, narcotic; morphine. nalbuphine. Gastrointestinal truct; stomach, intestine.Opioid drugs depress gastrointestinal function but there is little information on quantitative differences bctwccn agonists such as morphine and newer synthetic agonist-antagonist drugs. It would be of clinical importance to be able to predict the type and duration of the effect of each drug administered for pain relief. Therefore, to establish methodology, gastric cmptying half-times and small intestinal transit times wcrc measured in volunteers after low intravenous doses of morphine and nalbuphine. MethodThe effects of intravenous nalbuphine or morphine on gastrointestinal function wcrc evaluated in healthy volunteers in a double-blind crossover study. Each volunteer gave written. informed consent and the study was approved by the hospital ethical committee. Volunteers were studied twice and were assigned at random to one of four groups that received intravenously nalhuphine 10 mg or saline placebo (group I).

Modulation of Immune Function by Morphine: Implications for Susceptibility to Infection

“…It can also be speculated that morphine decreases gastrointestinal transit and the slowing down of gut motility facilitates bacterial translocation. Data in support of this hypothesis are provided by studies that show treatment with chronic morphine alone resulted in a significant increase in the concentration of serum endotoxin (Yukioka et al 1987;Runkel et al 1993). In other animal experimental models, morphine has been shown to not only induce the degradation of the host defense barrier but also potentiate the effects of LPS (Roy et al 1998b,c;Ocasio et al 2004).…”

Potentiating effect of morphine on oral Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium infection is μ-opioid receptor-dependent

“…It has subsequently been shown that morphine delays gastrointestinal (GI) transit in the mouse and the rat [28], as well as in humans [29,30]. We have shown that C3HeB/FeJ mice implanted with slow-release morphine pellets, or with osmotic mini-pumps dispensing morphine, decrease intestinal transit [26].…”

Opioid Drug Abuse and Modulation of Immune Function: Consequences in the Susceptibility to Opportunistic Infections

“…In addition, other studies demonstrated that mice implanted with morphine pellets are sensitized to oral Salmonella enterica , serovar Typhimurium acute infection, where potentiating effect is dependent on the MOR (Feng et al, 2006a; Breslow et al). Interestingly, some studies also indicated that morphine treatment alone results in a significant increase in the concentration of serum endotoxin and may be able to induce sepsis in mice, which suggests that morphine can modulate the gut-associated immune system (Yukioka et al, 1987). In other animal experimental models, morphine has been shown not only to induce the degradation of the host defense barrier but also synergize with LPS and augment the secretion of both IL-6 and TNF-α (Roy et al, 1998c; Ohara et al, 2005; Ocasio et al, 2004).…”