Dopamine and 5-HT supersensitivity in nonorganic central pain and in morphine abstinence: fortuitous or renal analogy?

Unexplained pain, such as central panalgesia, might be the most common clinical expression of a deficiency, central in nature, of the endorphin system. Acute natural opioid deficiency is comparable to morphine withdrawal in addicts characterized by vegetative, psychic disorder and the appearance of pain. An impressive supersensitivity (up to 1000 fold) to dopamine and 5-HT of the smooth muscle (hand dorsal vein: venotest) is detected both in central panalgesia sufferers and in addicts during spontaneous (withdrawal) or pharmacological (naloxone) abstinence. A 5-HT and dopamine supersensitivity, of less intensity, however, (10-30 fold), is found during migraine attacks: on these occasions, morphine-like factors in CSF appear reduced or undetectable, reinforcing the chemical analogy between morphine abstinence and migraine attacks. In the present study, evidence of opiate receptors in the human vein is also provided: 5-HT venospasms, inhibited by morphine, promptly emerge when naloxone is inoculated locally.