Endogenous opioid peptides and hypothalamic neuroendocrine neurones

in Journal of Endocrinology
Author:
R. J. Bicknell
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AFRC Institute of Animal Physiology, Babraham, Cambridge cb2 4at

received 17 May 1985

Introduction

In the 10 years since the discovery of the first endogenous opioid peptides it has become clear that these peptides, produced in extensive neuronal systems in the brain, exert effects on the pituitary by modifying the secretory activity of hypothalamic neuroendocrine neurones. The purpose of this article is to summarize what is known of the endogenous opioid systems which are responsible for these effects. This purpose is best served by reference to studies of the opioid control of gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) neurones and of oxytocin neurones, principally in the rat, the two best characterized systems. Knowledge of both systems is incomplete but each illustrates some of the possibilities for interaction of opioid peptides with neurosecretory neurones. It is not my intention to provide a comprehensive literature review of this rapidly developing field but to provide

 

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