Morphine treatment in vitro or in vivo decreases phagocytic functions of murine macrophages
- 31 December 1993
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Elsevier BV in Life Sciences
- Vol. 53 (12), 997-1006
- https://doi.org/10.1016/0024-3205(93)90122-j
Abstract
Studies were performed to compare in vitro and in vivo effects of morphine on the phagocytic function of murine peritoneal macrophages. Macrophage monolayers were incubated with Candida albicans for 30 min in the absence of autologous serum. Morphine added in vitro was found to decrease both the phagocytic activity (percent of phagocytic cells) and the phagocytic index (average number of ingested yeasts per cell) in a concentration-dependent manner, with maximal effects of 26% and 41%, respectively, at 10−6 M. When morphine was administered in vivo via an implanted 75-mg pellet, there was a 22% decrease in phagocytic activity and a 40% decrease in the phagocytic index. Naltrexone completely blocked the effects of morphine both in vitro and in vivo. The results suggest that morphine is capable of interacting directly with opioid receptors on macrophages, resulting in a decrease in phagocytic function.Keywords
This publication has 21 references indexed in Scilit:
- Differential Effects of Morphine and Naltrexone on the Antibody Response in Various Mouse StrainsImmunopharmacology and Immunotoxicology, 1992
- Chronic morphine treatment selectively suppresses macrophage colony formation in bone marrowEuropean Journal of Pharmacology, 1991
- Morphine promotes the growth of HIV-1 in human peripheral blood mononuclear cell coculturesAIDS, 1990
- Immunosuppression to Tetanus Toxoid Induced by Implanted Morphine PelletsAnnals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1990
- Morphine-induced immune alterations in vivoCellular Immunology, 1990
- The Periaqueductal Gray Matter Mediates Opiate-Induced ImmunosuppressionScience, 1989
- The Immune-Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis*Endocrine Reviews, 1989
- Morphine-induced immunomodulation is not related to serum morphine concentrationsEuropean Journal of Pharmacology, 1988
- Opioid Peptides and Opioid Receptors in Cells of the Immune SystemAnnual Review of Immunology, 1988
- Suppression of the induction of delayed hypersensitivity in rats by repetitive morphine treatmentsExperimental Neurology, 1986