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Departments of *Receptor Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, GlaxoSmithKline, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina
Address correspondence and reprint requests to Richard F. Cox, PhD, Systems Research, GlaxoSmithKline, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709. Address e-mail to rc7694{at}glaxowellcome.com
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Abstract |
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and 
receptors, but not µ receptors, whereas flumazenil was inactive. These benzodiazepines also stimulated 35S-GTP
S binding in membranes containing human receptors, and the effect of midazolam was prevented by a selective antagonist. Midazolam was also weakly active at -receptor activation, whereas all three were inactive at µ receptors. The results suggest that the analgesic efficacy reported for intrathecal benzodiazepines may be attributed, in part, to direct interaction with -opioid receptors.
IMPLICATIONS: Several human and animal studies have shown analgesic effects of benzodiazepines after spinal injection. Our results show that large concentrations of midazolam, chlordiazepoxide, and diazepam displace the binding of [3H]-diprenorphine—an opiate radioligand from receptors. In an in vitrofunctional assay, midazolam is a weak agonist at the -opioid receptor, whereas all three benzodiazepines are -opioid agonists. These findings may partially explain the mechanism of benzodiazepine-induced spinal analgesia.
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Introduction |
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S binding. Our data support a direct interaction of these benzodiazepines as receptor agonists. |
Methods |
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- and -opioid receptor subtypes were obtained from Glaxo Wellcome, Stevenage, UK. Receptor cDNA cloned into pCIN vectors were transfected into CHO cells by using a calcium phosphate method. High expressing cell lines were selected by using [3H]-diprenorphine binding. CHO cells containing human µ receptors were prepared at Affymax Research Institute, Palo Alto, CA. N-terminal, hemagglutinin-tagged receptors were expressed in CHO cells and selected by fluorescence-activated cell sorting by using antihemagglutinin antibody followed by phycoerythrin-conjugated goat antimouse immunoglobulin G. High expressing clones were obtained after several rounds of fluorescence-activated cell sorting. Opioid receptor-transfected CHO cells were grown in 225-cm2 flasks in media consisting of Dulbecco’s modified eagle’s medium/F12 with fetal bovine serum 5%. Cells were scraped from the flasks and homogenized in HEPES 50 mM, MgCl2 10 mM, and EDTA 1 mM, pH 7.4, using a glass douncer. Crude membrane homogenates were centrifuged at 20,000 rpm for 30 min, rehomogenized, centrifuged again, resuspended in buffer, and frozen at -80°C. Protein determinations were made by using the BioRad method.
Opioid receptor binding assays were performed by using [3H]-diprenorphine 0.75 nM in 96-well microtiter plates. The assay buffer contained HEPES 50 mM, MgCl2 10 mM, EDTA 1 mM, and protease inhibitors, pH 7.4. Membrane homogenate protein concentrations were 2, 3, and 18 µg per well for µ, , and receptors, respectively, in a final volume of 150 µL. Protein amounts were selected from results of saturation binding studies (data not shown) to provide similar levels of receptor concentrations. Incubations were performed for 60 min at room temperature, terminated by rapid filtration through a 96-well GF/B filter, and washed with ice-cold buffer. After drying, scintillation fluid was added to each well, plates were sealed and then counted on a Packard Instruments TopCount (Packard Instruments, Meriden, CT). Test compounds were prepared in 100% dimethylsulfoxide and diluted in assay buffer immediately before use. Final concentrations of dimethylsulfoxide did not exceed 1%. Nonspecific binding was determined in the presence of 2.5 µM of GR 89696A, GW 357476B (BW 373 U86), and GI 103996A (a hydrolysis-resistant analog of remifentanil), for -, -, and µ-receptor subtypes, respectively.
35S-GTPS binding assays were performed by using modifications of published assays (12–14). Membrane homogenates were prepared and stored as described above, thawed just before use, and maintained on ice. Membrane homogenates were diluted in assay buffer (2 µg/well for and 8 µg/well for and µ) and incubated in duplicate wells of 96-well microtiter plates with compounds and 35S-GTPS (200 pM) for 60 min at 30°C in a final volume of 210 µL. For antagonist experiments, membranes were incubated in triplicate with nor-binaltorphimine (nor-BIN) for 30 min, then exposed to midazolam and 35S-GTPS for an additional 30 min at 30°C. The reactions were terminated by rapid filtration through a 96-well GF/B filter plate and washed with ice-cold HEPES 20 mM. Protein concentrations were selected to give optimal responses to standard opioid compounds. The assay buffer was composed of HEPES 50 mM, MgCl2 5 mM, NaCl 120 mM, EDTA 1 mM, 1,4-dithiothreitol 0.5 mM, guanosine 5’-diphosphate 30 µM, and protease inhibitors, at pH 7.4. Nonspecific binding was determined in the presence of guanosine triphosphate (GTP) 100 µM.
Data were analyzed by using nonlinear curve-fitting functions in Prism version 2.01 (GraphPad Software, San Diego, CA). Responses at each concentration of compound were averaged, curves were fit, and appropriate response variables were derived.
35S-GTPS and [3H]-diprenorphine were purchased from New England Nuclear (Boston, MA) and Amersham (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech (Piscataway, NJ), respectively. Midazolam, diazepam, chlordiazepoxide, nor-BIN, 1,4-dithiothreitol, guanosine diphosphate, and GTP were purchased from Sigma (St. Louis, MO). Flumazenil was a gift from Hoffman-LaRoche (Nutley, NJ). HEPES, fetal bovine serum, and Dulbecco’s modified eagle’s medium/F12 were purchased from GIBCO BRL (Rockville, MD). MgCl2, NaCl, and EDTA were purchased from JT Baker (Phillipsburg, NJ). [D-Ala2,MePhe4,Glyol5]enkephalin (DAMGO), [D-Ala2, D-Leu5]enkephalin, and naltrindole HCl were purchased from RBI (Natick, MA). GR 89696A, GW 357476B (BW 373 U86), and GI 103996A were synthesized at Glaxo Wellcome. Protease inhibitors were Pefabloc SC (Boehringer-Mannheim) 2.5 µg/mL, pepstatin A (Sigma) 0.1 µg/mL, leupeptin (Sigma) 0.1 µg/mL, and aprotinin (Sigma) 0.1 µg/mL.
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Results |
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-opioid receptors in a concentration-dependent manner. Diazepam inhibited -receptor binding with a 50% inhibitory concentration of 87 µM, whereas midazolam and chlordiazepoxide only partially inhibited at this receptor. None of the benzodiazepines significantly affected [3H]-diprenorphine binding to µ receptors. The benzodiazepine antagonist, flumazenil, had only minor effects at any of the three opioid receptor subtypes and only at 50% effective concentrations of >250 µM. For comparison, known opioid receptor ligands potently inhibited [3H]-diprenorphine binding at the various subtypes.
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S binding in membrane homogenates from CHO cells expressing human receptors (Fig. 2). The benzodiazepines were weak, but fully effective in that they stimulated 35S-GTPS binding to near the same extent as the known agonist GR 89696A (Table 1). In a separate experiment, flumazenil 100 µM had no effect on the stimulation of 35S-GTPS binding by benzodiazepines or the opioid agonist GR 89696A (data not shown). In contrast, the selective receptor antagonist, nor-BIN, inhibited midazolam-induced binding of 35S-GTPS (Fig. 3). Despite its very weak affinity, midazolam stimulated 35S-GTPS binding to the human receptor by 227% at 200 µM. Diazepam and chlordiazepoxide showed no activity at receptors. None of the benzodiazepines stimulated 35S-GTPS binding in membranes containing µ receptors. In contrast, known µ agonists, DAMGO, and GI 103996A were potent stimulators of µ receptor 35S-GTPS binding.
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Discussion |
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aminobutyric acid (GABA)A receptors (1,3,10). Goodchild and Serrao (1) showed that intrathecal midazolam increased the pain threshold in rats, and that this effect was blocked by prior injection of the benzodiazepine antagonist flumazenil. Likewise, Kohno et al. (10) recently demonstrated that midazolam augmented GABA-mediated responses in substantia gelatinosa neurons from rat spinal cord, an effect that would increase inhibitory neurotransmission. Rattan et al. (2) have shown that the in vivo antinociceptive effects of intrathecal midazolam can be reversed by the opioid antagonist naloxone, indicating the involvement of opioid receptors. Other studies, using selective opioid antagonists, support the downstream activation of spinal -opioid receptors in the analgesia produced by intrathecal midazolam (16). In the whole animal or patient, it is likely that the mechanism is complex, involving both direct and indirect effects.
Two studies using rat tissues have demonstrated that benzodiazepines can displace radiolabeled opioid ligands from binding sites in the spinal cord (2,11). Midazolam displaced tritiated subtype selective opioid radioligands from endogenous receptors in rat spinal cord with a rank order of potency of > > µ (2). This is the same rank order that we observed in the current study displacing [3H]-diprenorphine from cloned human opioid receptor subtypes.
Although informative about affinity for a receptor, traditional radioligand binding studies do not disclose the efficacy of a ligand. To determine the efficacy of benzodiazepines at cloned human opioid receptors, we used a functional binding assay, 35S-GTPS binding. On binding of an agonist, opioid receptors couple to inhibitory G-proteins (Gi or Go) and bound guanosine diphosphate is exchanged for GTP. The efficacy of an agonist can be determined by measuring the binding of a stable GTP analog, 35S-GTPS. The amount of 35S-GTPS bound is directly proportional to the efficacy of the agonist (12–14). By using this assay, we found that midazolam, diazepam, and chlordiazepoxide each stimulated 35S-GTPS binding to receptor-containing cell membranes. Although the compounds are weak agonists, they appear to be fully effective, in that they stimulated 35S-GTPS binding to the same extent as the known agonist GR 89696A. The receptor specificity of midazolam’s effect on receptors is supported by the inhibition of its agonist effect by the nonspecific opioid antagonist naloxone, as well as by the selective antagonist nor-BIN. Furthermore, the absence of binding or functional activity in µ-expressing CHO cell membranes is evidence that the effect is selective for receptors and not a nonspecific effect (e.g., an interaction of midazolam with a G-protein). The affinity and activity of benzodiazepines at receptors are not entirely surprising. The novel agonist tifluadom is a substituted 1,4-benzodiazepine (17). Curiously, despite only partial displacement of [3H]-diprenorphine from receptors, midazolam stimulated 35S-GTPS binding in membranes from cells expressing receptors.
Although benzodiazepines are only weak opioid agonists, large micromolar local concentrations are achieved after intrathecal injection. For example, Naguib et al. (5) administered caudal injections of midazolam to children at 50 µg/kg in 1 mL/kg of saline. Before dilution, this would expose local tissue to approximately 150 µM. In another study (8), intrathecal doses up to 2 mg midazolam in 3 mL were given to adults, an initial concentration of 2 mM.
Our results show that three common benzodiazepine agonists can bind to, and activate, human -opioid receptors, and one, midazolam, can also modestly activate receptors. These data suggest that part of the analgesia seen with intrathecal benzodiazepines may be attributed, in part, to direct stimulation of opioid receptors.
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Acknowledgments |
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and receptor subtypes. We also thank Emily Tate and Andrea Dobbs, Affymax Research Institute, Palo Alto, CA, for the cell line expressing the human µ-receptor subtype. |
References |
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-, and -opioid receptors. Pharmacology 1994; 48: 30–40.[ISI][Medline]
and µ receptor activation of G proteins in NG108-15 and SK-N-SH cell membranes. J Neurochem 1997; 68: 1462–72.[ISI][Medline]
S binding to membranes: determination of potencies and efficacies of ligands. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 1997; 282: 676–84.-opioid receptors. J Med Chem 1996; 39: 860–72.[ISI][Medline]This article has been cited by other articles:
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  Y. K. Batra, R. Mahajan, S. Kumar, S. Rajeev, and M. Singh Dhillon A Dose-Ranging Study of Intraarticular Midazolam for Pain Relief After Knee Arthroscopy Anesth. Analg., August 1, 2008; 107(2): 669 - 672. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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 S. Yamamoto, J. Yamada, S. Ueno, H. Kubota, T. Furukawa, S. Yamamoto, and A. Fukuda Insertion of {alpha}7 Nicotinic Receptors at Neocortical Layer V GABAergic Synapses Is Induced by a Benzodiazepine, Midazolam Cereb Cortex, March 1, 2007; 17(3): 653 - 660. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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 J. C. Scaife, R. H. Hou, E. R. Samuels, F. Baqui, R. W. Langley, C. M. Bradshaw, and E. Szabadi Diazepam-induced disruption of classically-conditioned fear-potentiation of late-latency auditory evoked potentials is prevented by flumazenil given before, but not after, CS/US pairing J Psychopharmacol, January 1, 2007; 21(1): 93 - 101. [Abstract] [PDF]
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J. C. Scaife, R. W. Langley, C. M. Bradshaw, and E. Szabadi Diazepam suppresses the acquisition but not the expression of 'fearpotentiation' of the acoustic startle response in man J Psychopharmacol, July 1, 2005; 19(4): 347 - 356. [Abstract] [PDF]
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 S W Borron, C Monier, P Risede, and F J Baud Flunitrazepam variably alters morphine, buprenorphine, and methadone lethality in the rat Human and Experimental Toxicology, November 1, 2002; 21(11): 599 - 605. [Abstract] [PDF]
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