Possible opioid receptor function changes in isolated atria of the spontaneously hypertensive rat

1. A comparison of the effects of various opioid peptides on the heart rates of self-paced right atria was made, as taken from spontaneously hypertensive (SHR), Wistar Kyoto (WKY) and Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats at 4, 8, 12 and 16 weeks of age. 2. Beta-endorphin, dynorphin, met-enkephalin, DAGO and DADLE slightly decreased the spontaneously beating rate of all rat strains and ages, at 0.1 microM. Leu-enkephalin at 0.2 microM increased the spontaneous beating rate of SHR atria, but not that of atria from normotensive strains. 3. SHR atria were somewhat more sensitive than WKY atria to norepinephrine (NE)-induced positive chronotropy, but the differences were not statistically significant. 4. In the presence of mu, delta or kappa opioid receptor agonists, SHR atrial sensitivity to NE-induced chronotropy was enhanced at all ages studied. By contrast, NE chronotropy was not significantly altered by the opioids in normotensive rat atria. 5. Based on the above results, all the three major opioid receptor subtypes (mu, delta and kappa) appear to be present in rat atria but the function of these receptors appears to be greater in SHR than in WKY and SD atria. 6. The results suggest a possible involvement of altered opioid responsiveness in atria during hypertension development in SHR but the nature of this involvement appears to be complex and is not readily understandable on the basis of the present study.