Skip to main content

Table 2 A synthesis of how zinc ions modulate the interactions between opioid receptors ligands and their receptors is presented below

From: Zinc involvement in opioid addiction and analgesia – should zinc supplementation be recommended for opioid-treated persons?

  type of ligand endogenous / exogenous (for agonists) name receptor effects brain structure concentration reference
zinc ion actions agonists endogenous enkephaline δ-receptor specific agonist reduced both affinity and number of binding sites   physiological concentration Ogawa N. et al., 1985 [43]
exogenous [3H] DAGO [([Tyr-D-Ala-Gly-Methyl-Phe-Glyol]-enkephalin μ-receptor reduced   micromolar concentration Tejwani G.A., Hanissian S.H. 1990 [42]
  μ-receptor reduced    Fowler C.B. et al., 2004 [78]
[3H] DSTLE ([Tyr-D-Ser-Gly-Phe-Leu-Thr]-enkephalin) δ-receptor slighly reduced   micromolar concentration Tejwani G.A., Hanissian S.H. 1990 [42]
3H-met-enkephalinamide (2-D-ala-5-L-methionine) δ-receptor reduced hippocampus, the cerebral cortex and the basal ganglia of the (rat) endogenous concentrations Stengaard-Pedersen K., 1982 [79]
[3H] EKC (ethylketocyclazocine) κ-receptor slighly reduced   micromolar concentration Tejwani G.A., Hanissian S.H. 1990 [42]
(+)-[3H]pentazocine σ2-receptor slighly reduced hippocampus (rat) milimolar concentration Connor M.A., Chavkin C. 1992 [83]
antagonist [3H]naloxone μ-receptor reduced affinity, with no effect on the number of binding sites hippocampus, cortex, midbrain, striatum (rat) dose-dependent manner Hanissian S.H., Tejwani G.A. 1990 [85]
reduced zinc concentration compared to physiologic conditions metallothionein peptide 1 (specific zinc chelator) agonists exogenous (+)-[3H]pentazocine σ2-receptor non-changed hippocampus (rat)   Connor M.A., Chavkin C. 1992 [83]
zinc deficiency effect compared to normally-fed animals antagonist [3H]naloxone μ-receptor increased isolated brain membranes (rat)   Essatara M.B., 1984 [72]
Back to article page