Plasma from patients with the pruritus of cholestasis induces opioid receptor-mediated scratching in monkeys.
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Key Findings
Abstract
The medullary dorsal horn is a site of action of opiates in producing facial scratching. Extracts of plasma (0.4 microliter) from 4 patients with the pruritus of cholestasis induced facial scratching when microinjected into the medullary dorsal horn of monkeys. This extract-induced scratching could be abolished or prevented by administering the opioid receptor antagonist, naloxone. Neither saline nor an extract of plasma from a nonpruritic cholestatic patient induced scratching when similarly administered. We infer that plasma of patients with the pruritus of cholestasis contains a factor which induces pruritus by a central opioid receptor-mediated mechanism.
Affiliation
Liver Diseases Section, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.
External References
- PubMed ID:
- 8412484
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