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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America logoLink to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
. 1985 May;82(10):3178–3181. doi: 10.1073/pnas.82.10.3178

Beta-endorphin-(1-27) is a naturally occurring antagonist to etorphine-induced analgesia.

P Nicolas, C H Li
PMCID: PMC397738  PMID: 2987913

Abstract

The potent opioid peptide beta-endorphin is found in the brain and pituitary with two related fragments, beta-endorphin-(1-27) and beta-endorphin-(1-26). The fragments retain substantial opioid-receptor binding activity but are virtually inactive analgesically. beta-Endorphin-(1-27) inhibits beta-endorphin-induced and etorphine-induced analgesia when coinjected intracerebroventricularly into mice. Antagonism by competition at the same site(s) is suggested from parallel shifts of the dose-response curves of etorphine or beta-endorphin in the presence of beta-endorphin-(1-27). Its potency is 4-5 times greater than that of the opiate antagonist naloxone. beta-Endorphin-(1-26) does not antagonize the antinociceptive action of etorphine or beta-endorphin in doses up to 500 pmol per animal.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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