Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2010 Jun 30;6(3):456-60.
doi: 10.5114/aoms.2010.14271.

Opioid peptides and opiate alkaloids in immunoregulatory processes

George B Stefano  1 , Richard M Kream
Affiliations

Opioid peptides and opiate alkaloids in immunoregulatory processes

George B Stefano et al. Arch Med Sci. .

Abstract

Among the various non-neuronal cell types known to express and utilize neuropeptides, those of the immune system have received much attention in recent years. In particular, comparative studies in vertebrates and invertebrates have shown that endogenous opioid peptides are engaged in receptor mediated autoregulatory immune and neuroendocrine processes. The majority of these immune processes are stimulatory, as determined by their effects on conformational changes indicative of immunocyte activation, cellular motility, and phagocytosis. Endogenous opioid peptides form an effective network of messenger molecules in cooperation with cytokines, opiate alkaloids, and certain regulatory enzymes (neutral endopeptidase 24.11). Peptide-mediated immunostimulatory effects observed in this system are operationally counteracted by the inhibitory effects of morphine and related opiates. Opioid/opiate signaling processes are mediated by several types of receptors with different degrees of selectivity. Among them the recently identified, opioid insensitive µ(3) receptor deserves attention on account of its specificity for opiate alkaloids.

Keywords: G protein; immunoregulation; invertebrate immune cells; leukocytes; morphine; neutral endopeptidase; opioid peptides.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Hughes TK, Chin R. Interactions of neuropeptides and cytokines. In: Scharrer B, Smith EM, Stefano GB, editors. Neuropeptides and Immunoregulation. Berlin: Springer-Verlag; 1994. pp. 101–19.
    1. Scharrer B, Smith EM, Stefano GB. Heidelberg, Springer: 1994. Neuropeptides in neuroimmunology.
    1. Stefano GB. Pharmacological and binding evidence for opioid receptors on vertebrate and invertebrate blood cells. In: Scharrer B, Smith EM, Stefano GB, editors. Neuropeptides and Immunoregulation. Springer-Verlag; 1994. pp. 139–51.
    1. Weigent DA, Blalock JE. Neuropeptides in bidirectional communication between the immune and neuroendocrine systems. In: Scharrer B, Smith EM, Stefano GB, editors. Neuropeptides and immunoregulation. Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag; 1994. pp. 14–27.
    1. Stefano GB, Salzet M. Invertebrate opioid precursors: evolutionary conservation and the significance of enzymatic processing. Int Rev Cytol. 1999;187:261–86. - PubMed