Effects of opioid agonists on sympathetic and parasympathetic transmission to the dog heart.

Effects of leu- and met-enkephalin, pentazocine and morphine on negative or positive chronotropic response to vagal nerve stimulation or cardiac sympathetic nerve stimulation were examined in anesthetized dogs in order to determine whether opioid receptors modulate vagal and sympathetic transmission. Leu- and met-enkephalin (10-100 micrograms/kg i.v.) and pentazocine (100-1000 micrograms/kg i.v.) inhibited bradycardic response to vagal nerve stimulation (1-4 Hz) in a dose-dependent manner. Morphine (300 and 1000 micrograms/kg i.v.) did not affect vagal bradycardia. The inhibitory effect of leu-enkephalin (30 micrograms/kg) and pentazocine (300 micrograms/kg) was effectively antagonized by naloxone (1000 micrograms/kg i.v.). Bradycardic response to intracoronary injection of methacholine (0.1, 0.3 and 1 microgram) into the right coronary artery was unaffected by leu-enkephalin (30 micrograms/kg). On the other hand, leu-enkephalin and pentazocine did not modify tachycardic response to sympathetic nerve stimulation (1-8 Hz). Morphine attenuated sympathetic tachycardia only slightly. These results suggest that presynaptic opioid receptors, probably delta type, are present in the vagus nerves, and that the activation of opioid receptors inhibit vagal transmission to the dog heart. In contrast, the presence of opioid receptors in the cardiac sympathetic nerves is not evident.