▪ Abstract Opioid receptors belong to the large superfamily of seven transmembrane-
spanning (7TM) G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). As a class, GPCRs are of …

It is estimated that nearly a third of people who abuse drugs started with prescription opioid
medicines. Approximately, 11.5 million Americans used prescription drugs recreationally in …

Tolerance and sensitization are relatively simple manifestations of learning and memory that
refer to decreases and increases in the strength of a response to a stimulus induced by past …

Dimerization of G-protein-coupled receptors has been increasingly noted in the regulation of
their biological activity. However, its involvement in agonist-induced receptor internalization …

Although pharmacological data provide strong evidence for different types of opioid
receptors (eg, mu, delta, and kappa), they share many common properties in their ability to …

Chronic treatment of rats with▵ 9‐tetrahydrocannabinol (▵ 9‐THC) results in tolerance to its
acute behavioral effects. In a previous study, 21‐day▵ 9‐THC treatment in rats decreased …

INTRODUCTION It is well recognized that opioids are the analgesics of choice for the
treatment of moderate to severe pain. However, a large number of clinical studies have …

Pharmacological studies and recent research using genetic approaches have indicated that
most actions of exogenous opioids, such as morphine, are mediated through the μ-opioid …

Intracellular recordings of membrane potassium current were made from rat locus coeruleus
in vitro. The effects of agonists at mu-opioid receptors were studied on neurons from rats that …

From the demonstration of the existence of multiple opioid receptors and the isolation of the
endogenous opioid peptides in the brain, it is now clear that the activities of these receptors …