Opioid and Nonopioid Mechanisms of Stress Analgesia

Jw, Lewis; Cannon, J. Timothy; Liebeskind, John C.

doi:10.1126/science.7367889

Cited by 704 publications

(89 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Furthermore, no reliable correlations were found between the level of vocalizing and the stress-induced analgesic response. Results suggest that in Day 14 rats, exposure to very stressful or painful situations may elicit ultrasonic vocalizations and/or analgesic responses which are mediated by nonopioid systems (cf., Lewis, Cannon, & Liebeskind, 1980). Caution, however, that the lack of concordance of our results with those reported from other laboratories may stem from one of a number of procedural differences involving but not limited to differences in the duration of exposure to stress and central nervous system circuits mediating pain sensitivity derived from the rat's forepaw and tail (cf., Watkins & Mayer, 1982).…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 57%

Development of stress‐induced responses in preweanling rats

Takahashi

Turner

Kalin

1991

Developmental Psychobiology

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This study examined in postnatal Days 7, 14, and 21 male rats the effects of social isolation and social isolation with administration of brief foot shocks on the development of stress-induced behavioral and pituitary-adrenal hormone responses. Day 21 rats appeared similar to adult rats in their repsonses to the two test conditions. That is, exposure to either isolation or to shock increased both pituitary-adrenal hormone secretion and tail-flick latencies but only administration of shock potentiated freezing and ultrasonic vocalizations. Younger rats differed from Day 21 rats in their responses to the two test conditions. In both tests, Day 7 rats produced the highest number of ultrasounds, which may be due to a significant decrease in body temperature. In contrast, in Day 14 pups, exposure to shock significantly reduced isolation-induced ultrasonic vocalizations. Additional age-dependent differences were found in the analgesic responses of Days 7 and 14 rats. Day 7 rats exposed to stress became consistently hyperalgesic whereas Day 14 rats showed only a short-lasting analgesic response. Although in Days 7 and 14 rats exposure to the two stress conditions produced significant elevations in pituitary-adrenal hormone concentrations, plasma levels were lower than those measured in Day 21 rats. To summarize, preweanling rats exhibit varied age-dependent responses when exposed to different stress environments.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 57%

Development of stress‐induced responses in preweanling rats

Takahashi

Turner

Kalin

1991

Developmental Psychobiology

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“…The endogenous opiate system is activated by intense stimuli such as stress (52), high threshold electrical stimulation (2), or intense prolonged pain (53). This phenomenon is consistent with the neurobiology of peptides, which typically occur as cotransmitters (54,55), and are preferentially released when the neurons achieve high firing rates (56,57).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 61%

Pain modulation by release of the endogenous cannabinoid anandamide

Walker

Huang

Strangman

et al. 1999

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

444

277

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Synthetic cannabinoids produce behavioral analgesia and suppress pain neurotransmission, raising the possibility that endogenous cannabinoids serve naturally to modulate pain. Here, the development of a sensitive method for measuring cannabinoids by atmospheric pressure-chemical ionization mass spectrometry permitted measurement of the release of the endogenous cannabinoid anandamide in the periaqueductal gray (PAG) by in vivo microdialysis in the rat. Electrical stimulation of the dorsal and lateral PAG produced CB1 cannabinoid receptor-mediated analgesia accompanied by a marked increase in the release of anandamide in the PAG, suggesting that endogenous anandamide mediates the behavioral analgesia. Furthermore, pain triggered by subcutaneous injections of the chemical irritant formalin substantially increased the release of anandamide in the PAG. These findings indicate that the endogenous cannabinoid anandamide plays an important role in a cannabinergic pain-suppression system existing within the dorsal and lateral PAG. The existence of a cannabinergic pain-modulatory system may have relevance for the treatment of pain, particularly in instances where opiates are ineffective.analgesia ͉ periaqueductal gray ͉ microdialysis ͉ gas chromatography ͉ mass spectrometry T he components of an elaborate neural system that serves naturally to modulate pain sensitivity have been detailed by Liebeskind and subsequent workers (1, 2). These early studies revealed that electrical stimulation of the periaqueductal gray (PAG) produces analgesia, demonstrating the presence of an analgesia circuit in the brain (1). When elicited from the ventral portion of the PAG, this electrical stimulation-produced analgesia (SPA) is mediated by the release of endogenous opiates (3). However, when elicited from the dorsal or lateral part of the PAG, the analgesic effect of stimulation is mediated by unidentified nonopiate substances (4).Among the prime candidates for these unknown pain modulatory substances are endogenous cannabinoids-compounds similar to the active ingredient in marijuana. Cannabinoids produce analgesia (5) and dampen the spinal and thalamic neuronal responses to noxious stimuli (6, 7). In attempting to understand the neural basis of cannabinoid analgesia, the PAG was a brain region of interest because of its established role in pain-modulation (8) and the presence of the necessary biological machinery for cannabinoid action (9-12). Like opiates, cannabinoids produce analgesia when microinjected in the PAG (13). However, the anatomical subregions of the PAG that support cannabinoid analgesia were the inverse of those supporting morphine analgesia and opiate-mediated SPA (4, 13, 14): cannabinoids were effective in the dorsal and lateral but not the ventral PAG. These findings led us to speculate that endogenous cannabinoids in the dorsal and lateral PAG may be an important component of the nonopiate analgesia system identified earlier. Herein, we show that electrical stimulation of the dorsal and lateral PAG and the dorsal ad...

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“…The activation of the endogenous opiate system appears of particular interest, since a parallel can be traced between the above paradigm and the one concerning the phenomenon of stress-induced analgesia, studied in the animal [104]. …”

Section: The Psychoendocrine Reaction To Real-life Stressorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Psychological Stress and Neuroendocrine Function in Humans: The Last Two Decades of Research

Biondi

Picardi

1999

Psychother Psychosom

313

175

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This paper reviews experimental contributions published in the last two decades and exploring the effect of emotional stress on neuroendocrine function in healthy humans. Laboratory studies allow standardization of the stressor and better control for known confounding factors. Commonly used stressors are mental arithmetics, speech tasks, the Stroop test, videogame playing, films or videotapes and interviews. Little is known about the generalizability of laboratory results, with some studies suggesting great caution in extrapolating data to real-life stress conditions. Another strategy is studying the psychoendocrine reaction to real-life stressors, such as bereavement or anticipated loss, academic examinations, everyday work and parachute jumping. The effects of different stressors on neuroendocrine axes are reviewed, as well as the influence of gender, age, personality, coping style, social support, biological and nonbiological interventions. The subjective perception of the situation is probably a main determinant of the psychoendocrine response pattern. In fact, marked variability in individual responses to a variety of stressors has frequently been observed. Evidently, the ‘objective’ characteristics of a given event are not the only determinants of reaction to the event itself. According to a constructivistic perspective, every given stressor has a strictly personal and idiosyncratic meaning and loses its ‘objective’ characteristics. Of course, biological factors may also play a part. In any case, it is mandatory to overcome a rigid dichotomy between psychological and biological processes. Dualistic conceptions which imply a determination of the physical by the psychological or vice versa should give place to a systemic conception, which implies mutual, circular interactions.

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Opioid and Nonopioid Mechanisms of Stress Analgesia

Cited by 704 publications

References 36 publications

Development of stress‐induced responses in preweanling rats

Development of stress‐induced responses in preweanling rats

Pain modulation by release of the endogenous cannabinoid anandamide

Psychological Stress and Neuroendocrine Function in Humans: The Last Two Decades of Research

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