![]() |
|
|
Vol. 280, Issue 2, 593-599, 1997
Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, West Virginia University, Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center, Morgantown, West Virginia
| |
Abstract |
|---|
|
|
|---|
Ouabain acutely depolarizes most types of cells through inhibition of electrogenic Na+,K+ pumping and is a useful tool with which to study conditions that affect electrogenic pumping. Intracellular recording techniques were used with neurons of the guinea pig myenteric plexus/longitudinal muscle preparation exposed to ouabain. Of 35 S neurons exposed to ouabain (1 µM), 15 were hyperpolarized by 10 ± 2 mV, 11 were depolarized by 8 ± 2 mV and the remaining neurons had no change in membrane potential. The nonselective potassium channel antagonist tetraethylammonium chloride (TEA; 0.5 mM) alone evoked modest (<5 mV) and inconsistent changes in the resting membrane potential of S neurons. However, in the presence of TEA, the hyperpolarizing response to 1 µM ouabain was eliminated, and the proportion of cells depolarized by ouabain increased from 31% to 83%. Glibenclamide (10 µM) and 100 nM iberiotoxin did not change the pattern of membrane potential changes induced by 1 µM ouabain. Calcium-free buffer eliminated the hyperpolarization and potentiated the depolarization induced by 1 µM ouabain. Ouabain (5 µM), in either the presence or absence of TEA, induced depolarization in all neurons tested (mean, 15-16 mV), indicating a predominant effect of inhibition of electrogenic pumping. These data suggest that ouabain may directly or indirectly activate myenteric S neuron calcium-sensitive potassium channels as well as inhibit the Na+,K+ pump and that TEA will antagonize the former effect. Chronic exposure (morphine pellets) of guinea pigs to morphine resulted in a partial depolarized state of myenteric neurons, as previously reported. Ouabain (5 µM), either with or without TEA, depolarized neurons from chronically morphine-treated guinea pigs very little (5-6 mV) in comparison with naive neurons (15-16 mV). This supports the conclusion that the depolarized state of morphine-tolerant neurons is associated with a reduction in electrogenic Na+,K+ pumping.
| |
Introduction |
|---|
|
|
|---|
Past work in our laboratory (Abel
et al., 1981
; Fleming and Westfall, 1975
; Gerthoffer
et al., 1979
) and others (Albuquerque et al.,
1971
; Sellin and Thesleff, 1980
; Rogers et al., 1993
) has
established that the mechanism by which nonspecific adaptive supersensitivity occurs in several smooth muscles and skeletal muscles
is partial membrane depolarization. Furthermore, in smooth muscle, that
depolarization has been proved to be the consequence of altered
Na+,K+ pump function, including a marked
decline in electrogenic pumping (Abel et al., 1981
;
Gerthoffer et al., 1979
; Hershman et al., 1993
,
1995
; Rogers et al., 1993
). The cardiac glycosides, such as
ouabain, by means of their inhibition of the pump, have been a critical
tool in much of that work.
Recently, our laboratory has established that nonspecific adaptive
supersensitivity to neuronal excitatory agents and subsensitivity to
inhibitory agents, including opioids, are the bases for the tolerance
to, and dependence on, opioids that develop in the myenteric plexus/longitudinal muscle preparation of the guinea pig (Johnson et al., 1978
; Taylor et al., 1988
). Subsequently,
depolarization of myenteric S neurons was identified as the mechanism
for those sensitivity changes (Leedham et al., 1992
).
Investigation of the important issue of the role of electrogenic
Na+,K+ pumping in this effect has been
complicated by the fact that ouabain causes a hyperpolarization, rather
than a depolarization, in many S neurons.
The resting membrane potential is the sum of two components: (1) the
diffusion potential that is driven by the transmembrane potassium
gradient and is maintained, over the long term, by
Na+,K+-ATPase (EC3.6.1.37) and (2) the
electrogenic pump potential. Because of the unequal ionic pumping, an
outward current, the electrogenic pump current, is generated by the
Na+,K+ pump, contributing to the potential
difference across the membrane (Fleming, 1980
; Thomas, 1972
). It has
been estimated that electrogenic pumping contributes ~5-10 mV to the
resting membrane potential in several different cell types (Brodie and
Sampson, 1985
; Gallin and Livengood, 1983
; Hellstrand and Lydrup, 1988
;
Xu and Adams, 1992
). However, in canine colonic smooth muscle, it may
contribute up to 40 mV to the resting membrane potential (Barajas Lopez
et al., 1989
; Burke et al., 1988
).
Cardiac glycosides, such as ouabain, specifically bind to the
Na+,K+-ATPase, inhibiting both the enzyme
activity and pump function (Allgayer et al., 1988
; Benders
et al., 1992
). In a variety of cells, including neurons,
muscles and glands, ouabain induces a rapid depolarization by
inhibiting the electrogenic pumping of the
Na+,K+-ATPase (Brodie and Sampson, 1985
; Bryant
et al., 1988
; Fleming, 1980
; Miller et al., 1978
;
Xu and Adams, 1992
). Although we observed ouabain-induced
depolarizations in some guinea pig myenteric-type S neurons,
approximately half of the neurons were hyperpolarized by ouabain.
Similar results have been reported in rabbit nodose ganglion neurons
(Higashi et al., 1987
). These authors found that ouabain
induced extracellular calcium influx or intracellular calcium release
from nodose ganglion C neurons. The increase in intracellular free
calcium activated a calcium-dependent potassium conductance that
resulted in hyperpolarization. We hypothesize that in guinea pig
myenteric S neurons, in addition to inhibition of the
Na+,K+ pump, which should lead to
depolarization, ouabain might also, directly or indirectly, activate a
potassium channel. This increase in potassium conductance might
contribute to the hyperpolarization of the neuron induced by ouabain.
The present work was undertaken with two objectives: (1) to determine
the cause of the hyperpolarizing effect of ouabain and a method to
eliminate or minimize it and (2) to use those results to design
experiments to investigate the role of electrogenic pumping in the
depolarization associated with opioid tolerance. In choosing the range
of concentrations of ouabain (1-5 µM), the goal was to achieve
near-maximal inhibition of the pump. Experience in other tissues of the
guinea pig indicated that the KD for
ouabain binding to the pump was 0.1-0.2 µM (Wong et al.,
1981
), and electrogenic pump inhibition was complete at 10 µM
(Gerthoffer et al., 1979
; Urquilla et al., 1978
).
Preliminary results have been presented in abstracts (Kong et
al., 1993
, 1996
).
| |
Methods |
|---|
|
|
|---|
Myenteric neuron electrophysiology.
Adult male albino guinea
pigs (Hilltop Lab Animals, Inc., Scottdale, PA; Camm Research Lab
Animals, Wayne, NJ) weighing 350-600 g were used. Guinea pigs were
killed by exsanguination after stunning. The technique for tissue
preparation was previously described by Leedham et al.
(1992)
and similar to that of Cherubini and North (1984)
and Johnson
et al. (1987)
. The ileocecal junction was identified, and
~10 cm of terminal ileum was discarded. The adjacent 10 cm of ileum
was removed, and the lumen was flushed with physiological saline.
Segments of ileum ~1 cm long were cut lengthwise and pinned in a
tissue chamber designed for intracellular recording. After removal of
the overlying mucosa and circular muscle layers, the myenteric ganglia
were visualized using an Olympus inverted microscope equipped with
Nomarski optics. Tissues were continuously superfused with PSS
maintained at 37 ± 1°C, bubbled with 95% 02/5%
CO2, at a constant flow rate of 2 ml/min with a Gilson
Minipulse II peristaltic pump (Rainin Instrument, Woburn, MA). The
composition of the PSS was 117 mM NaCl, 4.7 mM KCl, 2.5 mM
CaCl2, 1.2 mM KH2PO4, 1.2 mM
MgSO2, 25 mM NaHCO3 and 11.5 mM glucose. In
addition, nicardipine (3 µM) was added to the PSS to reduce or
prevent muscle contractions. In the calcium-free medium, calcium ion
was substituted by sodium ion, and 2 mM EGTA was added to the medium.
Tissue exposure to ouabain was achieved by changing the perfusate from
one without the drug to one containing the drug. The time required to
achieve a complete exchange of solution in the tissue chamber, due to
the dead space in the superfusion system, was 1-2 min. Neurons of the
myenteric ganglia were impaled using glass fiber-filled microelectrodes
(Frederick Haer, Brunswick, ME) filled with 2.5 M KCl and having
resistances of 50-100 M
. AH cells were classified on the basis of
the appearance of a long-lasting (2-30 sec) afterhyperpolarization
following an action potential evoked in the soma by intracellular
depolarizing current pulse injection (Hirst et al., 1974
).
Neurons were identified as S cells if repetitive intracellular
depolarizing current injection could evoke repetitive somatic action
potentials without afterhyperpolarizations and/or by the presence of
fast excitatory postsynaptic potentials elicited by transmural
stimulation. Although some S neurons do display an
afterhyperpolarization (Cherubini et al., 1988
), in our
experiments this is not as great or as long lasting as in AH cells, nor
does it prevent repetitive generation of action potentials. Only cells
identified as S neurons were exposed to ouabain. The methods used for
intracellular recording and cell identification are similar to those
previously reported by Hirst et al. (1974)
, Cherubini and
North (1984)
, Johnson et al. (1987)
and Leedham et
al. (1992)
. Signals from these neurons were amplified (Axoclamp
2A, Axon Instruments, Burlingame, CA) and displayed on a Tektronix
Model 5111 oscilloscope. A continuous record of the amplifier output
was obtained via a digital computer A/D interface board and
Axotape data acquisition software (Axon Instruments, Burlingame, CA).
Measurements of resting membrane potential (resting Em) and
changes in Em induced by superfusion with drugs could be
obtained from computer recordings. Membrane input resistance was
calculated from the amplitude of the voltage response to a constant
hyperpolarizing current pulse injection (0.1-0.3 nA, 250 msec, 0.3 Hz). Currents were used that evoked voltage responses of <20 mV in
amplitude under control conditions. Cells were included in the analysis
if the following criteria were met: (1) resting membrane potential of
the cell remained steady for
15 min, (2) the stable resting potential
difference was >
40 mV and (3) the peak amplitude of the action
potential elicited by intracellular current injection surpassed 0 mV.
Statistical evaluations were made using Student's t tests
for unpaired samples. Paired Student's t tests were also
used where appropriate. A value of P
.05 was accepted as
significant.
Morphine pellet implantation.
Morphine pellets were
implanted subcutaneously in guinea pigs anesthetized with 0.1 ml/100 g
b.wt. of Innovar (0.05 mg/ml fentanyl citrate/2.5 mg/ml droperidol)
administered subcutaneously. Each morphine pellet contained 75 mg of
morphine. Under anesthesia, either one or two pellets were implanted in
each flank, depending on animal weight, as previously described
(Goldstein and Schulz, 1973
; Johnson et al., 1978
). With
this method of implantation, there was very low morbidity and mortality
(<1%). Animals were allowed to recover from the anesthesia and given
free access to food and water until the time of experiment, 7 days
later. Extensive experience has established that two pellets in the
smaller guinea pigs and four in the larger guinea pigs produce
equivalent tolerance in the myenteric plexus/longitudinal muscle
preparation. The method produces peak tolerance over a period of 4-7
days (Leedham et al., 1989
).
Drugs. Glibenclamide and iberiotoxin were purchased from Research Biochemicals (Natick, MA). Tetraethylammonium chloride monohydrate was obtained from Aldrich Chemical (Milwaukee, WI). {Ethylenebis(oxyethylenenitrilo)]tetraacetic acid (EGTA) was from Fisher Scientific (Fair Lawn, NJ). Ouabain octahydrate and other reagents were obtained from Sigma Chemical (St. Louis, MO). Morphine sulfate and the morphine and placebo pellets were obtained from Mr. K. H. Davis (Research Triangle Institute through the National Institute of Drug Abuse).
| |
Results |
|---|
|
|
|---|
In a concentration of 1 µM, ouabain hyperpolarized 43% of the guinea pig myenteric S neurons tested, depolarized 31% and produced no change in 26% (table 1). Figure 1 shows a typical hyperpolarization from one neuron that, in this subpopulation of S neurons, averaged 10 ± 2 mV. Membrane input resistance of neurons was monitored by measuring the voltage response to regularly repeated injections of a constant hyperpolarizing current pulse injection. In several neurons hyperpolarized by ouabain, the membrane input resistance was decreased during ouabain perfusion and gradually recovered after washing of ouabain from the preparation with normal Krebs' solution (fig. 1). This alteration in input resistance was repeatable on the same neuron. However, no statistically significant difference was found among all sets of input resistance measurement data before and during superfusion of ouabain (1.0 µM) (table 2).
|
|
|
TEA (0.5 mM), a nonselective potassium channel blocker, eliminated the hyperpolarizing effect of ouabain (1 µM) such that it induced only depolarization (10 of 12 cells, 83%) or no effect (2 cells, table 1). TEA alone had minimal effects on membrane potential or input resistance. The mean increase in resistance induced by ouabain was greater in the presence of TEA (table 2), but variability was considerable, and the mean value was not significantly different from zero.
Other more-selective potassium channel blockers were tested to further
define the nature of the potassium channel involved in the
ouabain-induced hyperpolarization of S neurons. Glibenclamide, a
sulfonylurea, is an inhibitor of ATP sensitive potassium channels (Gasser and Vaughan Jones, 1990
; Yanagisawa et al., 1990
).
Preperfusion of the preparation with 10 µM glibenclamide for 20 min
induced no obvious changes in response of S neurons to ouabain (table 1). Iberiotoxin, a toxin isolated from scorpion venom, is a selective inhibitor of high conductance calcium-activated potassium channels with
a high affinity constant (Maxi-K). The IC50 value for
single high conductance K(ca) channels on bovine aortic
smooth muscle was 250 pM (Galvez et al., 1990
). After
preperfusion of myenteric plexus preparation with 20 nM iberiotoxin for
5-10 min, the neuronal action potential generated by depolarizing
current injection was obviously broadened with a slowed repolarization
phase (data not shown). This effect implies that iberiotoxin-sensitive
potassium channels had been blocked by the iberiotoxin treatment.
Superfusion with an even higher concentration of iberiotoxin (100 nM)
for 1 hr did not reduce the frequency or magnitude of hyperpolarization responses to ouabain (table 1). In contrast, perfusion with
calcium-free medium had a dramatic effect on responses of type S
neurons to ouabain. After a 20-min perfusion with calcium-free Krebs'
solution, 1 µM ouabain depolarized all seven S neurons tested by an
average of 28 ± 4 mV, an amount significantly greater than the
depolarization induced by ouabain in normal calcium Krebs'
solution (table 1).
A larger concentration of ouabain (5 µM) depolarized all 11 control
neurons tested by a mean of nearly 16 mV (table 3,
control data). In the presence of TEA, similar results were obtained
with all 27 neurons depolarized by a mean of >15 mV. This
concentration of ouabain induced a mean increase in input resistance of
11.3 ± 7.9 M
(not significantly different from zero) in the
absence and 21.1 ± 6.1 (P < .05) in the presence of TEA
(table 2). Although the mean depolarization induced by 5 µM ouabain
was similar in the presence and absence of TEA (table 2), the relative
changes in input resistance are consistent with ouabain opening some
K+ channels (which decreases resistance) in the absence of
TEA.
|
Experiments were carried out to determine whether the depolarized state
of myenteric S neurons induced by implantation of morphine pellets in
guinea pigs was related to a loss of electrogenic Na+,K+ pumping. The data above suggest that in
these neurons, 5 µM ouabain is more selective for pump inhibition
than is 1 µM and that TEA is an effective antagonist of any
complicating effect of ouabain on K+ channels. A total of
38 S neurons from control animals and 13 from guinea pigs chronically
exposed to morphine were studied (table 3). As previous studies have
established (e.g., Leedham et al., 1992
), the S
neurons from the treated animals were significantly depolarized
relative to control cells (table 3). In both the absence and presence
of TEA, the neurons from morphine-pretreated guinea pigs were
depolarized significantly less by ouabain than were controls (table 3).
The differences in the depolarization induced by ouabain in the absence
of TEA (15.9
7.4 = 8.5 mV) and the presence of TEA
(15.2
4.5 = 10.7 mV) are very similar to the difference in
resting potential between control neurons and those from guinea pigs
pretreated with morphine (54.0
45.3 = 8.7 mV). In other
words, the mean membrane potential of the 38 control neurons in the
presence of ouabain (
38.6 mV) was virtually identical to the mean
membrane potential of the 13 neurons from morphine-pretreated guinea
pigs in the presence of ouabain (
39.3 mV). These data are consistent
with a conclusion that the depolarized state of neurons from the
morphine-pretreated guinea pigs is due to reduced electrogenic
Na+,K+ pumping, not to altered diffusion
potential.
| |
Discussion |
|---|
|
|
|---|
The primary purpose of this study was to determine whether changes in electrogenic Na+,K+ pumping contribute to the partial depolarization induced in myenteric S neurons by chronic treatment of guinea pigs with morphine. To do so first required that a complicating factor in the action of cardiac glycosides be eliminated.
Ouabain (1 µM) induced depolarization in some myenteric S neurons and
hyperpolarization in others. Depolarizations induced by ouabain have
been reported in many neurons and other cell types over several decades
and have been recognized to be the result of the inhibition of
electrogenic Na+,K+ pumping (e.g.,
Fleming, 1980
; Sontheimer et al., 1994
; Thomas, 1972
). In
contrast, ouabain-induced hyperpolarization has previously been
observed in only two groups of cells: nodose ganglion neurons (Higashi
et al., 1987
) and colonic myocytes (Burke and Sanders, 1990
). The results of Higashi et al. (1987)
and Burke and
Sanders (1990)
and those presented here suggest that these
hyperpolarizations result from the activation of potassium channels. By
opening potassium channels, ouabain would change the resting membrane
potential of the neurons toward the potassium equilibrium potential
(i.e., induce a hyperpolarizing effect). This hypothesis is
supported by the fact that TEA (a widely recognized inhibitor of many
types of K+ channel; Watson and Girdlestone, 1996
) prevents
the hyperpolarizations induced by ouabain. If this hypothesis is
correct, ouabain should decrease membrane input resistance by
increasing potassium conductance. Although such reductions in input
resistance were clearly demonstrable in some cells, no significant
decrease was found when data were compared among all cells in which
ouabain produced hyperpolarizations. The depolarizations induced by a
higher concentration of ouabain (5 µM) were accompanied by a
nonsignificant trend toward increased input resistance. However, in the
presence of TEA, this increase in resistance induced by the larger
concentration of ouabain was greater and significant. It is likely,
therefore, that the tendency of ouabain to increase resistance was
masking a small decrease in resistance due to opening of potassium
channels in some of the cells.
Hyperpolarization induced by ouabain in rabbit nodose ganglion type C
neurons has been reported by Higashi et al. (1987)
, who
concluded that ouabain indirectly activated a calcium-dependent potassium conductance by increasing extracellular calcium influx or
calcium release from intracellular stores. Burke and Sanders (1990)
showed that ouabain hyperpolarized canine colonic myocytes and
decreased the membrane resistance. The reduction in membrane resistance
was the result of an increase in potassium conductance. This increase
in potassium conductance was antagonized by TEA and cesium ions (Burke
and Sanders, 1990
). The data presented here indicate that the
hyperpolarization of S neurons induced by low concentrations of ouabain
may be mediated through activation of a calcium-dependent potassium
channel because the hyperpolarization is sensitive to either TEA or
calcium-free medium. However, it is not sensitive to the selective high
conductance calcium-activated potassium channel (Maxi-K) blocker
iberiotoxin. The ATP-sensitive potassium channel blocker glibenclamide
also had no effect on the hyperpolarizations induced by ouabain. It
remains to be clarified which subtype of K(ca) channel is
involved in the ouabain-induced hyperpolarization of guinea pig
myenteric type S neurons. Thus, data from the literature and the
present study indicate that ouabain possesses dual effects on membrane
properties and resting membrane potential of several types of cells.
The experiments here do not distinguish between a direct inhibition of
calcium-sensitive potassium channels by ouabain or an indirect
activation due to elevations in intracellular calcium. Given that
removal of extracellular calcium abolishes all signs of
hyperpolarization by ouabain, we suggest, as did Higashi et al. (1987)
, that the effect of ouabain is probably indirect. The focus of this study was not to characterize the specific mechanism of
the hyperpolarizing effect of ouabain but rather to identify a method
by which to minimize its impact.
The primary effect of ouabain on cell membranes is to inhibit the Na+,K+ pump, resulting in a depolarization by elimination of the contribution of the electrogenic pump potential to resting membrane potential. In some cells, another effect is to increase potassium conductance by opening potassium channels. The depolarizing and hyperpolarizing effects in myenteric S neurons occur with overlapping concentrations of ouabain and similar time courses. Because these effects antagonize each other, the observed response to ouabain is the net summation of these opposing effects. The masking effect of potassium channel-mediated hyperpolarizations could lead to an underestimation of activity when studying electrogenic Na+,K+ pump function on cell membrane characteristics using ouabain. In higher concentrations of ouabain, the depolarizing action appears to predominate. For example, in the present study, 5 µM ouabain always produced a net depolarization and never evoked demonstrable hyperpolarizing responses.
These results allowed the selection of optimum conditions for the use of ouabain to determine the possible role of altered electrogenic Na+,K+ pumping in the resting membrane depolarization of S myenteric neurons that occurs with chronic exposure of guinea pigs to morphine. The 5 µM concentration of ouabain was chosen. Its effect on resting potential was tested in both the presence and absence of TEA in neurons from control animals vs. animals implanted with subcutaneous morphine pellets.
Consistent with previous reports (Leedham et al., 1992
), the
S neurons from guinea pigs receiving morphine pellets 7 days before the
experiment were depolarized by a mean of ~9 mV relative to controls.
The application of ouabain (5 µM) to these neurons produced
significantly less depolarization of the neurons from the morphine
group relative to controls. This is consistent with a conclusion that
electrogenic activity of the Na+,K+ pump
contributes less to resting membrane potential in the morphine-treated group than in controls. Indeed, regardless of whether the ouabain was
administered in the presence (10.7 mV) or absence (8.5 mV) of TEA, the
mean difference in the depolarizing effect of ouabain was similar to
the mean difference in resting membrane potential (8.7 mV) between
neurons from controls and those from morphine-pretreated guinea pigs.
In the presence of 5 µM ouabain, either with or without TEA, the mean
membrane potential was nearly identical in S neurons of tolerant and
naive guinea pigs, indicating that acute pump inhibition eliminated the
difference between them.
Virtually identical results (Gerthoffer et al., 1979
) led to
the conclusion that adaptive changes in the excitability of smooth muscle cells of the guinea pig vas deferens associated with a resting
depolarized state was the result of reduced electrogenic pumping, not
of altered diffusion potential. Subsequent biochemical experiments
(Na+,K+-ATPase activity: Gerthoffer et
al., 1979
; ouabain binding: Wong et al., 1981
;
measurements of the
2 subunit of the
Na+,K+ pump: Hershman et al., 1993
,
1995
) confirmed a functional decrease in the pump of the smooth muscle
cells of the vas deferens. Somewhat parallel studies by Rogers et
al. (1993)
led to the discovery that adaptive changes in
excitability and a depolarized state of canine colonic smooth muscle
are associated with a reduction in the messenger RNA of the
2 subunit of the pump.
The present report provides the first evidence of a connection among
adaptive changes in excitability, depolarized resting membrane
potential and reduced Na+,K+ pumping in a
neuron. Unfortunately, the myenteric neurons represent a small portion
of the mass of smooth muscle and connective tissue in the myenteric
plexus/longitudinal muscle preparation. Consequently, biochemical
studies of the pump in those neurons are impractical. However,
preliminary data in our laboratory indicate that similar relationships
exist in the nucleus tractus solitarius (Malanga et al.,
1995
) and locus ceruleus (Meng et al., 1996
) of the guinea pig, areas in which more detailed studies can be conducted. The importance of this association lies in the relevance of the depolarized resting state to opioid tolerance and dependence.
The evidence that the depolarized state of myenteric S neurons from
animals chronically exposed to morphine is responsible for the opioid
tolerance and dependence in the myenteric plexus/longitudinal muscle
preparation is extensive, as discussed by Leedham et al. (1992)
and in the review by Fleming and Taylor (1995)
. Implantation of
morphine pellets in guinea pigs induces cross-tolerance to several
unrelated hyperpolarizing agents (mu-opioid agonists, alpha-2 adrenoceptor agonists, 2-chloroadenosine; Leedham
et al., 1991
; Taylor et al., 1988
) without any
indication of changes in receptors or signal transduction processes
(Leedham et al., 1992
). Simultaneously, implantation of
morphine pellets induces supersensitivity of the myenteric
plexus/longitudinal muscle preparation to a variety of depolarizing
agents and procedures, including nicotine, acetylcholine, 5-hydroxytryptamine, potassium and electrical stimulation (Johnson et al., 1978
). Administration of naloxone to tolerant
preparations in the continued presence of morphine leads to a
withdrawal contraction of the longitudinal muscle secondary to a
combination of enhanced excitatory synaptic activation and spontaneous
firing of S neurons (Johnson et al., 1987
). The depolarized
state of the neurons ties together all of these effects.
Many procedures that chronically depress cellular activity lead to a
compensatory adaptation, which is characterized by supersensitivity to
excitatory substances and/or subsensitivity to inhibitory substances (reviews by Fleming et al., 1973
and Fleming, 1976
). That
tolerance to and dependence on opioids are simply reflections of a
general cellular phenomenon of adaptive supersensitivity/subsensitivity has been recognized for many years (Collier, 1966
; Goldstein and Shulz,
1973; Johnson et al., 1978
). However, few investigators have
attempted to apply knowledge from this broad perspective to the problem
of tolerance and dependence. Several different mechanisms have been
identified to explain adaptive supersensitivity and subsensitivity
depending on the cell type and animal species involved; these include
quantitative changes in receptor density, transduction processes or
membrane potential (reviewed by Fleming and Westfall, 1988
; Fleming and
Taylor, 1995
; Johnson and Fleming, 1989
). In every instance tested,
when the adaptive changes were nonspecific, the cause was membrane
depolarization secondary to decreased electrogenic
Na+,K+ pumping. These include the following
tissues: smooth muscle of the guinea pig vas deferens (Gerthoffer
et al., 1979
; Hershman et al., 1995
), rabbit
saphenous artery (Abel et al., 1981
), canine colon (Rogers
et al., 1993
) and, now, guinea pig myenteric S neurons. In
regard to opioid tolerance, there appears to be a major species difference in the mechanism of adaptation; tolerance is specific for
opioids and apparently is based on alterations in mu-opioid receptor transduction processes in the rat locus ceruleus (Nestler, 1992
).
In summary, ouabain was used to provide evidence that the partly depolarized state of myenteric S neurons associated with chronic exposure to morphine is the result of a reduction in electrogenic activity of the Na+,K+ pump. The inhibition of electrogenic Na+,K+ pumping in myenteric S neurons by ouabain is complicated by an action, possibly indirect, to open K+ channels. This problem can be virtually eliminated by the proper selection of the concentration of ouabain and/or the addition of TEA.
| |
Footnotes |
|---|
Accepted for publication October 21, 1996.
Received for publication June 10, 1996.
1 This work was supported in part by grant RO1-DA03773 from the National Institute of Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health.
Send reprint requests to: Dr. William W. Fleming, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, P.O. Box 9223, West Virginia University, Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center, Morgantown, WV 26506.
| |
Abbreviations |
|---|
TEA, tetraethylammonium chloride monohydrate;
PSS, physiological salt solution;
EGTA, ethylene glycol
bis(
-aminoethyl
ether)-N,N,N
,N
-tetraacetic
acid.
| |
References |
|---|
|
|
|---|
-aminobutyric acid on neurons of guinea-pig myenteric plexus.
Br. J. Pharmacol.
82: 93-100, 1984[Medline].
2 subunit isoform of Na+,K+-ATPase.
Mol. Pharmacol.
43: 833-837, 1993[Abstract].
2 subunit.
Mol. Pharmacol.
47: 726-729, 1995[Abstract].This article has been cited by other articles:
![]() |
Z.-Q. Wu, J. Chen, Z.-Q. Chi, and J.-G. Liu Involvement of Dopamine System in Regulation of Na+,K+-ATPase in the Striatum upon Activation of Opioid Receptors by Morphine Mol. Pharmacol., February 1, 2007; 71(2): 519 - 530. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
Z.-Q. Wu, M. Li, J. Chen, Z.-Q. Chi, and J.-G. Liu Involvement of cAMP/cAMP-Dependent Protein Kinase Signaling Pathway in Regulation of Na+,K+-ATPase upon Activation of Opioid Receptors by Morphine Mol. Pharmacol., March 1, 2006; 69(3): 866 - 876. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
T. M. Laughlin, A. A. Larson, and G. L. Wilcox Mechanisms of Induction of Persistent Nociception by Dynorphin J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther., October 1, 2001; 299(1): 6 - 11. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
J.-Q. Kong, J. Meng, P. S. Biser, W. W. Fleming, and D. A. Taylor Cellular Depolarization of Neurons in the Locus Ceruleus Region of the Guinea Pig Associated with the Development of Tolerance to Opioids J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther., September 1, 2001; 298(3): 909 - 916. [Abstract] [Full Text] |
||||
![]() |
A. Ivanov and G. Aston-Jones Local Opiate Withdrawal in Locus Coeruleus Neurons In Vitro J Neurophysiol, June 1, 2001; 85(6): 2388 - 2397. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
W. W. Fleming 1999 Torald Sollman Award Lecture: Cellular Adaptation: Journey from Smooth Muscle Cells to Neurons J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther., December 1, 1999; 291(3): 925 - 931. [Abstract] [Full Text] |
||||
![]() |
J. Meng, C. J. Malanga, J.-Q. Kong, D. A. Taylor, and W. W. Fleming Hyperpolarizing Effects of Morphine, Clonidine and 2-Chloroadenosine in Myenteric Neurons Associated with Tolerance to Morphine J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther., April 1, 1997; 281(1): 41 - 47. [Abstract] [Full Text] |
||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||