Mechanisms of action of loperamide

The beneficial effect of loperamide in some children with severe protracted diarrhoea which persisted when nil by mouth, made us suspect that loperamide may have an antisecretory action. Using a steady-state perfusion technique in rat jejunum we showed that loperamide inhibits cholera toxin induced secretion of water, sodium and chloride (p less than 0.001). This antisecretory action was blocked by naloxone and not mediated via an effect on tissue cyclic AMP level or adenylate cyclase activity. More recently we have studied the effect of loperamide on secretion of water in the rat jejunum induced by other agents with differing mechanisms of action. The first set of observations suggest that loperamide's antisecretory effect is mediated via opiate receptors either distal to, or separate from the adenylate cyclase/cyclic AMP pathway. Our more recent studies support the notion that loperamide has an effect on specific transport systems rather than non-specific passive diffusional processes.