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RESEARCH PRODUCT
Chapter 21 Immunohistochemical evidence for a co-transmitter role of opioid peptides in primary sensory neurons
Wolfgang HartschuhEberhard WeiheD. Nohrsubject
education.field_of_studyPopulationGlutamate receptorSensory systemBiologyInhibitory postsynaptic potentialNociceptionOpioidmedicineExcitatory postsynaptic potentialeducationOpioid peptideNeurosciencemedicine.drugdescription
Publisher Summary The purpose of this chapter is to answer several open questions regarding opioid peptides by using a highly sensitive light microscopic (LM) immunohistochemical approach. The chapter mentions the immunohistochemical evidence for a co-transmitter role of opioid peptides in primary sensory neurons. It introduces the concept that there is a functionally important tandem constellation of transmitters in a specific nociceptive population of primary sensory afferents consisting of (1) an inhibitory transmitter family, the opioid peptides, and (2) an excitatory transmitter family, the tachykinins. Small-diameter primary sensory neurons not only transmit nociceptive messages to central neurons, but are also active in the periphery in mediating axon-reflex mechanisms and inflammation response. The presence of the inhibitory opioid peptides and of presynaptic opioid receptors implies the novel principle of presynaptic primary sensory autoinhibition. Other transmitter candidates (e.g., glutamate, or additional peptides) may act synergistically with either of the two opposite components.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988-01-01 |