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Relationship of Opiate Peptides to Neuroendocrine Functions

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Endorphins and Opiate Antagonists in Psychiatric Research

Abstract

Following reports of the presence of endogenous opiate activity in the brain (Pasternak et al., 1975; Terenius and Wahlström, 1975), two pentapeptides (Met-enkephalin: H-Tyr-Gly-Gly-Phe-Met-OH; Leu-enkephalin: H-Tyr-Gly-Gly-Phe-Leu-OH) were isolated from porcine (Bradbury et al., 1976) and calf (Simantov and Snyder, 1976) brain and shown to possess high opiate agonist activity. The sequence of Met-enkephalin is the same as the N-terminus of β-endorphin, the C-fragment of β-lipotropin (β-LPH61n91) first isolated from sheep pituitary gland (Li et al., 1965). β-Endorphin has been isolated and characterized from camel pituitary glands (Li and Chung, 1976) as well as from many other species including the human, and shown to be an analgesic agent as measured by both in vitro (Bradbury et al., 1976; Cox et al., 1976; Li and Chung, 1976) and in vivo (Loh et al., 1976) methods.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Département d’Endocrinologie Moléculaire, CHUL, Quebec, Canada

    A. Dupont, Y. Mérand, D. Rouleau, L. Cusan, A. Lemay, J. Lépine & N. Barden

  2. Laboratoire d’Endocrinologie, Université de Rouen, Mont Saint-Aignan, France

    H. Vaudry & S. Jegou

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  1. A. Dupont
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  2. Y. Mérand
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  3. D. Rouleau
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  4. L. Cusan
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  5. A. Lemay
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  6. H. Vaudry
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  7. S. Jegou
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  8. J. Lépine
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  9. N. Barden
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. William S. Hall Psychiatric Institute, Department of Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Department of Pharmacology, University of South Carolina School of Medicine, Columbia, South Carolina, USA

    Nandkumar S. Shah Ph.D. (Chief of Research Services, Research Professor, Adjunct Professor) (Chief of Research Services, Research Professor, Adjunct Professor)

  2. William S. Hall Psychiatric Institute, Department of Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of South Carolina School of Medicine, Columbia, South Carolina, USA

    Alexander G. Donald M.D. (Director, Professor and Chairman) (Director, Professor and Chairman)

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© 1982 Plenum Publishing Corporation

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Dupont, A. et al. (1982). Relationship of Opiate Peptides to Neuroendocrine Functions. In: Shah, N.S., Donald, A.G. (eds) Endorphins and Opiate Antagonists in Psychiatric Research. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-1119-5_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-1119-5_7

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-1121-8

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