1. This study was designed to evaluate variations in plasma beta-endorphin, methionine-enkephalin, adrenocorticotropic hormone and serum prolactin in healthy volunteers during head-out water immersion. 2. Water immersion induced an increase in methionine-enkephalin plasma levels, which was associated with a significant fall in mean arterial pressure and heart rate. 3. Conversely, a suppression ...

In this communication we show that T cell locomotion is affected by direct interaction with neurohormones. Opioid peptides, including beta-END, MET-ENK, LEU-ENK, and related enkephalin analogues enhanced migration of human peripheral blood T lymphocytes. Activity was dependent on the peptide NH2-terminal sequence, stimulated by enkephalin analogues with specificity for classical delta or mu typ...

A single bi-functional monomer, N,O-bismethacryloyl ethanolamine (NOBE), was used in precipitation polymerization system to synthesize molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) microspheres. Highly specific binding sites were obtained for N-terminal protected neuropeptides, Boc-Leu-enkephalin and Pyr-Leu-enkephalin. The use of NOBE allowed binding sites to be formed in polymer microspheres that are a...

3.1. Chapter 1. Critical overview of the use of isolated organs in opioid research 3.2. Chapter 2. Pharmacological characterisation of enkephalins, ?-endorphin and its fragments 3.3. Chapter 3. Development of potent analgesic enkephalin analogs such as (D-Met2,Pro5)-enkephalinamide 3.4. Chapter 4. Characterisation of structural principles for the receptor type-selectivity of enkephalin analogs ...