Regular Article
Tissue Distribution of Opioid Receptor Gene Expression in the Rat

https://doi.org/10.1006/bbrc.1996.0156Get rights and content

Abstract

The endogenous opioid peptides have multiple physiological actions at both a central and peripheral level which are mediated by 3 main classes of opioid receptors, μ, δ and κ. The rat μ, δ and κ opioid receptors have recently been cloned and their distribution of expression in the central nervous system has been mapped. In these studies we have used the reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and Southern blotting to determine the distribution of expression of the μ, δ and κ opioid receptors in the peripheral tissues of the rat. All 3 opioid receptors were found to be widely expressed in several peripheral tissues including the small intestine, large intestine, adrenal, kidney, lung, spleen, testis, ovary and uterus. In the stomach, δ and κ but not μ opioid receptor transcripts were detected. Predominantly δ transcripts were detected in the heart, with no μ and only a weak signal for the κ receptor. In the liver μ and δ but not κ transcripts were present. Opioid receptor expression was not detected in endothelium or synovium. There is therefore a broad, but tissue specific distribution of opioid receptor expression in the periphery of the rat, suggesting that the endogenous opioid peptides play an endocrine, paracrine, or autocrine role in the regulation of physiology at a peripheral as well as central level.

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