Subcutaneous injection of an analog of neuropeptide FF prevents naloxone-precipitated morphine abstinence syndrome. Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • There is evidence that neuropeptide FF (NPFF) has antiopiate activity and may play a role in opiate dependence and subsequent abstinence syndrome. A fragment of NPFF was modified at the C-terminal in an effort to convert it to an NPFF antagonist. It was also dansylated at the N-terminal in an effort to render it more lipophilic and increase its penetration of the blood-brain barrier. Third ventricle administration of the resulting compound, dansyl-PQRamide (0.75 microgram and 1 microgram), dose-dependently antagonized the quasi-morphine abstinence activity of NPFF (10 micrograms) in opiate-naive rats. Subcutaneous injection of dansyl-PQRamide (13 mg/kg) in chronically morphine-infused rats attenuated opiate dependence as indicated by prevention of naloxone-precipitated abstinence syndrome. Dansyl-PQRamide displaced radiolabelled ligand from NPFF receptors in a concentration-dependent manner with a Ki of 13 microM, and had a half-life over 300 times longer than NPFF under aminopeptidase digestion.

published proceedings

  • Drug Alcohol Depend

altmetric score

  • 3

author list (cited authors)

  • Malin, D. H., Lake, J. R., Smith, D. A., Jones, J. A., Morel, J., Claunch, A. E., ... Liu, J.

citation count

  • 29

complete list of authors

  • Malin, DH||Lake, JR||Smith, DA||Jones, JA||Morel, J||Claunch, AE||Stevens, PA||Payza, K||Ho, KK||Liu, J

publication date

  • November 1995