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. 1987 Sep;7(3):303–307. doi: 10.1007/BF00711306

Localization of kappa opioid receptor binding sites in human forebrain using [3H]U69,593: Comparison with [3H]bremazocine

Rémi Quirion 1,✉, Carmencita Pilapil 1,3, Jacques Magnan 3
PMCID: PMC11567475  PMID: 2830975

Abstract

  1. The autoradiographic distribution of kappa opioid receptor binding sites in human brain was examined using two radiolabeled probes, namely [3H]U69,593 and [3H]bremazocine.

  2. [3H]U69,593 binding was performed in the absence of blockers for other sites, while [3H]bremazocine binding was investigated in the presence of saturating concentrations of mu and delta blockers to ensure selective labeling of kappa opioid receptors.

  3. Our results show that the autoradiographic distribution of [3H]U69,593 and [3H]bremazocine (plus blockers) binding sites is identical, with high densities of sites found in deep cortical layers and claustrum.

  4. This indicates that [3H]U69,593 is a highly selective ligand of the kappa opioid receptor type.

Key words: kappa opiate, autoradiography, human brain, selective ligands

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