Abstract
The role of opioid peptides in the secretion of gonadotropins in man was studied by means of three different experimental models: a patient with congenital Indifference to pain, morphine addicts and healthy volunteers, representing respectively spontaneous pathology, a pharmacological model and normal conditions. The patient with congenital indifference to pain fully investigated from a neurological point of view, was considered for the high levels of central opioid peptides. Morphine addicts, selected on the basis of a two year drug addiction, were considered as having high pharmacological opiate activity in the brain. Healthy volunteers, given 0.1 mg/kg/h of naloxone i.v., were used as a model with low central opioid activity. FSH, LH and testosterone were evaluated in all subjects by means of a sensitive and specific RIA. Morphine addicts received their usual dose of morphine and blood was collected every 20 minutes for 120 minutes before and after GnRH administration. Blood samples were collected in normal subjects every 20 minutes for 120 minutes in basal conditions and thereafter during naloxone infusion for 240 minutes. GnRH was given in a single i.v. bolus at 120 minutes after the start of the infusion. The same procedure was used in the case of congenital indifference to pain.
Published Version
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