Antagonism of cholecystokinin-like peptides by opioid peptides, morphine or tetrodotoxin.

Morphine, beta-endorphin, Met-enkephalin, and Leu-enkephalin antagonized intestinal actions of cholecystokinin octapeptide (CCK-8), caerulein, and pentagastrin in a manner partly suggesting physiologically competitive antagonism. Further, these acidic peptides (CCK-8, caerulein, pentagastrin) were much more sensitive to the actions of opioids than was angiotensin. Tetrodotoxin also caused changes in the concentration-effect curves, but these were different from the shifts due to the opioids and differentiated between CCK-8, caerulein, and pentagastrin. Naloxone did not modify the response to CCK-8 and caerulein, but completely abolished the antagonistic influence of the opioids. The potencies of morphine and the opioid peptides as antagonists of CCK-8, were of nearly the same order of magnitude. This and the presence in gut and brain of both CCK-like and opioid peptides suggests the hypothesis that these two groups of peptides interact on both myenteric and central nervous system receptors, and thus are directly involved in the regulation of both intestinal motility and satiety.