Change in the properties of the opiate receptors of the brain under conditions of habituation of rats to morphine

The influence of prolonged administration of morphine on the properties of the opiate receptors of the rat brain was investigated. For this purpose they conducted an analysis of the isotherms of binding of labeled μ-, σ-, and chi-ligands: morphine, D-Ala2, D-Leu5-enkephalin, and ethylketocyclazocin, with membrane preparations of the brains of rats tolerant to morphine, as well as the control animals. For a quantitative determination of the dissociation constants of the ligand-receptor complexes (K) and the concentration of the reagents ([Q]), they used differential method and the method of simulation modeling. It was shown that the values of K and [Q] for individual animals are subjected to substantial dispersion, whereas the ratios [Q]/K undergo minor individual fluctuations, both in the control group and in the group of rats tolerant to morphine. This permits the ratio [Q]/K to be singled out as one of the main parameters for comparing the properties of opiate receptors of various groups of animals. Using this criterion, as well as the method of simulated modeling, it was shown that the development of tolerance is accompanied by a change in the properties of the δ-receptors (the ratio [Q]/K decreases by a factor of more than two). In contrast to the δ-receptors, no significant influence of the tolerance on the properties of the μ- and chi-receptors, as well as the ultrahigh-affinity ligand binding sites, was detected