III - Prostaglandin hyperalgesia: relevance of the peripheral effect for the analgesic action of opioid-antagonists.

Morphine injected into the rat cerebral ventricles had a marked analgesic effect, while no effect was observed with pentazocine and naloxone or nalorphine caused a strong hyperalgesia. Administered systemically (IP) naloxone and nalorphine caused a transitory analgesia followed by a long lasting hyperalgesic effect; morphine and pentazocine showed only an analgesic effect. It was concluded that the site of analgesic action of opioid-antagonists is peripheral rather than central. The peptidase-resistant enkephalin-analog, BW 180c, which does not cross the blood brain barrier, caused a marked analgesia by IP administration to paws made hyperalgesic by PGE2 or carrageenin. It is suggested that agents derived from morphine, morphine-antagonists, enkephalins or cGMP devoid of central effect but having a strong peripheral effect may constitute a new class of safer analgesics.