Receptor alterations and drug tolerance

Abstract

A brief review of studies which have employed chronic administration of anticholinesterases, benzodiazepines, amphetamine, antidepressants, neuroleptics and opiates is presented to illustrate the deficiencies in our current knowledge about the degree to which alterations in neurotransmitter receptors can account for tolerance development to these agents. Although numerous investigators have reported alterations in receptor binding following chronic drug treatment and others have reported tolerance development, these two phenomena have seldom been studied in the same experiment. It is argued that a multidisciplinary approach is required to elucidate the role of receptor alterations in drug tolerance.