Effect of naloxone in a previously undescribed hypothalamic syndrome. A disorder of the endogenous opioid peptide system?

A syndrome of disordered hypothalamic function with abnormal control of temperature, appetite, and thirst, hyperprolactinaemia, and inappropriate vasopressin release is described in a 13-year-old boy who, in addition, had insensitivity to pain and a more general disorder affecting mood, sleep, and control of respiration. A disturbance of the opioid peptide system is postulated. Naloxone reversed central analgesia, altered urine fluid and electrolyte excretion, modified the hormonal response to gonadotrophin-releasing and thyrotrophin-releasing hormones, and improved the auditory and visual reaction times. Specific opioid antagonists may have a therapeutic role.