Elevation of serum corticosterone in rats by bremazocine, a kappa-opioid agonist

Bremazocine at doses of 0.01 mg kg-1 s.c., and higher, increased serum corticosterone concentration several-fold in rats. The increase occurred within 20 min, was maximum at 40-60 min and subsided after 120 min. Pretreatment with naloxone (1-10 mg kg-1 s.c.) antagonized the corticosterone increase. These data support the view that kappa-opioid agonist activity of bremazocine mediated the corticosterone increase.