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ANESTHETIC PHARMACOLOGY

Human Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells Express Nociceptin/Orphanin FQ, but Not µ, , or Opioid Receptors

John P. Williams, FRCA^*, Jonathan P. Thompson, MD, FRCA^*, John McDonald, BSC^*, Timothy A. Barnes, PhD^*, Tom Cote, PhD, David J. Rowbotham, MD, FRCA, and David G. Lambert, PhD^*

From the *Department of Cardiovascular Sciences (Pharmacology and Therapeutics Group), Division of Anaesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Management, University of Leicester, Leicester Royal Infirmary, Leicester, United Kingdom; Department of Pharmacology, Uniformed Services University, Bethesda, Maryland; and Department of Health Sciences, Division of Anaesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Management, University of Leicester, Leicester Royal Infirmary, Leicester, United Kingdom.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to David G. Lambert, PhD, Department of Cardiovascular Sciences (Pharmacology and Therapeutics Group), Division of Anaesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Management, University of Leicester, Leicester Royal Infirmary, Leicester, LE1 5WW, UK. Address e-mail to DGL3{at}le.ac.uk.

BACKGROUND: Expression of opioid receptors on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) is controversial. These receptors are currently classified as classical (MOP/mu/µ, DOP/delta/ and KOP/kappa/) and nonclassical NOP (nociceptin/orphanin FQ; N/OFQ).

METHODS: In this volunteer study we probed for the expression of both classical and nonclassical opioid receptors using 1) radioligand binding, 2) specific antibody binding, and 3) polymerase chain reaction-based experimental paradigms.

RESULTS: Membranes prepared from PBMC from healthy volunteers did not bind either [³H]diprenorphine (a nonselective radioligand for classical opioid receptors) or [³H]N/OFQ. There was significant concentration-dependent binding of each radioligand to control tissues expressing recombinant MOP and NOP. In addition, using fluorescence-activated cell sorting paradigms, there was no binding of fluorescent naloxone or either of two MOP antibodies to whole PBMC, though fluorescent naloxone did bind to recombinant MOP (as a positive control). Using primers specific for classical and nonclassical opioid receptors, and RNA extracted from the PBMC of 10 healthy volunteers, we were also unable to detect MOP, DOP, and KOP transcripts. In contrast, NOP was detected in all samples.

CONCLUSIONS: Despite using several complementary experimental strategies, we failed to demonstrate protein for classical or nonclassical opioid receptors on PBMC from healthy volunteers. We detected NOP mRNA, suggesting low-density NOP expression on these immunocytes. It is possible that N/OFQ, produced by the PBMC itself, may be involved in the control of immune function.

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