STRESS AND ENDOGENOUS OPIOIDS - BEHAVIORAL AND CIRCULATORY INTERACTIONS

Endogenous opioid peptides are the basis of a diverse system of comple x neuroregulatory and endocrine mechanisms. While relatively quiescent in the resting state, these peptides are released during intense stim ulation and modify, in a number of ways, circulatory homeostatic mecha nisms. The endogenous opioids, primarily via endorphins and enkephalin s, are capable of influencing circulatory responses to stress at the b ehavioral, the endocrinological, and the neural level. Recent research in humans and animals has described several roles for opioids in regu lation of the circulatory stress response, and has also provided clues about the significance of opioid dysregulation in the pathophysiology of stress. Increased understanding of the basic mechanisms of stress and endogenous opioids will clarify the potential roles of opioids in important pharmacologic and behaviorally based therapeutics.