Immune response products alter CNS acitivity: Interferon modulates central opioid function

✍ Scribed by N. Dafny; J. R. Lee; P. M. Dougherty

• Book ID: 102911925
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1988
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 948 KB
• Volume: 19
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0360-4012
• DOI: 10.1002/jnr.490190118

✦ Synopsis

The present report provides evidence to support the hypothesis that peptides released during an immune response alter CNS activity and thus may provide a means for the immune system to transmit afferent signals into the brain. Specifically, it is demonstrated that recombinant interferon-alpha (rIFN-a), a peptide associated with the immune response to viral infection, can alter opiate withdrawal severity in a dose-dependent manner upon direct injection into brain areas essential for this phenomenon. These results are compared and contrasted with the effect of systemically injected rIFN-a upon opiate withdrawal. In addition, an electrophysiological investigation into the basis of the interaction of opioids and rIFN-a in brain structures essential for theexpression of opioid activities is also presented. Finally, the effects of rIFN-a upon the functions of both the CNS and other systems is discussed in terms of the effects reported for other peptides associated with immune responses.