In this work, we investigated the behavior of the -opioid receptor (MOR) and the transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) ion channel in the plasma membrane and their mutual communication. Both these receptors are implicated in pain perception and analgesia. We observed that the lateral mobility of MOR was strongly affected by different biased opioid agonists. DAMGO and endomorphin-2 display opposite bias towards MOR. According to our results, they also have the opposite effects on the mobility of MOR. Morphine induced only small changes in the mobility of MOR. Moreover, cholesterol depletion and blockage of G protein signaling by pertussis toxin (PTX) affected the ability of different MOR agonists to alter MOR mobility in a unique manner. The effects of DAMGO and endomorphin-2 were compromised under these conditions. On the other hand, we observed increased movement of MOR after the addition of morphine. PTX alone did not affect receptor movement, but it completely disrupted the effect of cholesterol depletion on morphine induced changes the mobility of MOR. Next we studied the mobility of TRPV1. The TRPV1 agonist capsaicin changed the lateral mobility of TRPV1. Surprisingly, after adding the MOR antagonist naloxone, the apparent diffusion coefficient of TRPV1 but to a lower extent than...

It has recently been discovered that the effect of morphine can significantly reduce the tissue damage that occurs during myocardial ischemia. The molecular mechanisms by which morphine acts on the heart are still little understood. The aim of this thesis was to monitor the effect of chronic 27-day and 10-day administration of low (1 mg/kg/day) and high (10 mg/kg/ day) doses of morphine on the expression of selected G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCR) and on the expression and activity of adenylyl cyclase (AC). Chronic (27 days) morphine treatment reduced the expression of к-opioids receptors, but 10-day morphine exposure did not influence the expression of these receptors. Assessment of β1- and β2-AR by immunoblot technique did not show any significant change in the expression, but the more accurate determination of β-AR expression using the saturation binding studies revealed that 27-day treatment with high doses of morphine appreciable increased the total number of these receptors. Administration of high doses of morphine led to marked up-regulation of adenylyl cyclase (AC) isoforms V/VI, and the amount of AC decreased proportionally with the time of discontinuation of morphine administration. Low doses of morphine up- regulated AC only during 27-day administration. Chronic morphine exposure did...

The exact role of opioid receptors in drug addiction and modulatory mechanism of action of monovalent cations on these receptors are still not fully understood. Our results support the view that the mechanism of addiction to morphine is primarily based on desensitization of μ- and δ-opioid receptors. Desenzitization of agonist response proceeds already at the level of G protein functional activity. Long-term exposure of rats to morphine resulted in increase of number of δ-opioid receptors and change of their sensitivity to sodium ions. Analysis of the effect of different monovalent ions on agonist binding in δ-OR- Gi1α (Cys351 -Ile351 )-HEK293 cell line confirmed the preferential sensitivity of δ-opioid receptor to sodium ions. We have distinguished the high- and low-affinity Na+ sites. Biophysical analysis of interaction of lithium, sodium, potassium and cesium ions with plasma membranes isolated from HEK293 cells with the help of fluorescent probes indicated that monovalent ions interact, in low-affinity manner, with the polar, membrane-water interface of membrane bilayer. Key words: morphine, forebrain cortex, opioid receptors, G proteins, monovalent ions, plasma membrane, fluorescence spectroscopy.

The exact role of opioid receptors in drug addiction and modulatory mechanism of action of monovalent cations on these receptors are still not fully understood. Our results support the view that the mechanism of addiction to morphine is primarily based on desensitization of μ- and δ-opioid receptors. Desenzitization of agonist response proceeds already at the level of G protein functional activity. Long-term exposure of rats to morphine resulted in increase of number of δ-opioid receptors and change of their sensitivity to sodium ions. Analysis of the effect of different monovalent ions on agonist binding in δ-OR- Gi1α (Cys351 -Ile351 )-HEK293 cell line confirmed the preferential sensitivity of δ-opioid receptor to sodium ions. We have distinguished the high- and low-affinity Na+ sites. Biophysical analysis of interaction of lithium, sodium, potassium and cesium ions with plasma membranes isolated from HEK293 cells with the help of fluorescent probes indicated that monovalent ions interact, in low-affinity manner, with the polar, membrane-water interface of membrane bilayer. Key words: morphine, forebrain cortex, opioid receptors, G proteins, monovalent ions, plasma membrane, fluorescence spectroscopy.

Background Based on the gathered data from the previous pilot study and the results of this study we proceeded to the following study which is being focused on the surveillance of the age group 50 - 64 years in the area of prescribed opioid analgesics. Alongside with this, we explored in what possible combinations the medications can be used by the chronic pain patients in the current moment. Methods The base of the research was the qualitative study which was performed by the half-structured deep interview with the participants from the chronic pain patients. The interviews were carried out during the year 2011. Within the main study were pursued two quantitative substudii during the January and March 2012. The first study was focused on the questionnaire survey about the number of the chronic pain patients in the Czech Republic. The second substudy followed the chronic pain patients and their influence by the environmental conditions with the help of the questionnaire in case of the combinations among the prescribed opioid analgesics with alcohol or non-alcohol addictive drugs. Results Half-structured interviews were carried out with 20 participants and with the help of this tool were gathered data pointing out the increasing trend in non-medical use of opioid analgesics and increasing interest...

5 Summary: Currently, the outcomes from traumatic exsanguination cardiac arrest (CA) show that over 50% of deaths due to trauma occur at the scene, where medical care is limited. Less than 10% of patients who become pulseless from trauma survive. However, in an appropriate setting, some of those traumatic injuries could be surgically repairable. Emergency preservation and resuscitation (EPR) is a novel approach for resuscitation of exsanguination CA victims. EPR uses deep hypothermic preservation for prolonged CA to buy time for transport, damage control surgery, and delayed resuscitation with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). Initially, we used a dog model to maximize clinical relevance. We showed that the efficacy of EPR is related to the depth of hypothermia and duration of CA. Pharmacologic adjuncts tested to augment hypothermia generally failed. Extended hemorrhagic shock did not prevent the success of EPR vs. conventional resuscitation if extended post-resuscitative hypothermia was provided. Oxygenation of the flush allowed extending of survivable duration of deep hypothermic CA. Because of the lack of molecular tools available for use in dogs, we developed a rat EPR model to study the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying deep hypothermic neuroprotection to allow us to define specific targets for...

-5- ABSTRACT A huge effort has been put in determining the mechanism of the development of tolerance and dependence in context of clinical use of morphine for treatment of severe pain. Understanding of this mechanism would help to design new and more efficient pharmaceuticals. This diploma paper discus the opiate receptors with a special focus on long-term effect of chronic morphine treatment, which was determined using a radioligand binding assays with a non-selective antagonist [3 H]Diprenorphine. One of the goals of this work was to create and optimise a method for preparation of pure plasma membranes from rat cortex using percoll gradient. There were five groups, which differed in the length of morphine treatment: ten days (M-10), twenty-eight days (M-28), ten days with seven days of regression (RM-10 twenty-eight days with seven days of regression (RM-28) and a control group (K). The loss of total opioid receptor number was noticeable after ten days and grew slightly during continuous morphine treatment and kept lowering in the period of regression. The total loss was approximately 30% of the control binding. The equilibrium dissociation constant (Kd), thus the affinity of [3 H]Diprenorphine wasn't significantly different among the groups. Morphine acts through µ-opioid receptor, that's why there was a...