[Opioid receptors of the CNS: function, structure and distribution]

Even though the alkaloids of opium, such as morphine and codeine, were isolated at the beginning of 19th century, the opioid receptors were not determined until 1970's. The discovery of endogenous opioid peptides, such as endorphins, enkephalins and dynorphins, has helped to differentiate between the specific opioid receptor subtypes, mu, delta and kappa, that are used up to now. Opioid receptors are distributed in the central nervous system unevenly. Each receptor subtype has its own specific and nonspecific agonists and antagonists. Opioides, as exogenous opioid receptor agonists, are drugs that are often used in medicine for their analgesic effects, but they are also some of the most heavily abused drugs in the world. Opioides may also induce long-term changes in the numbers and binding activities of opioid receptors. Some of our studies in fact demonstrate that prenatal morphine exposure can alter opioid receptors of adult rats. This may begin to provide insight into the sources of some of the morphological and behavioral changes in the progeny of mothers that received or abused opioides during pregnancy.