Effect of repeated administration of TRK-820, a κ-opioid receptor agonist, on tolerance to its antinociceptive and sedative actions

Repeated administration of μ-opioid receptor agonist, morphine induces tolerance not only to the antinociceptive effect but also to other pharmacological effects, resulting in shortened working duration and decreased efficacy. But less is known about κ-opioid agonist-induced tolerance. The tolerance-development potency of κ-opioid receptor agonists with a focus on TRK-820 was characterized. After five administrations of κ-opioid receptor agonists, TRK-820 (0.1–0.8 mg/kg), U-50,488H (10–80 mg/kg) and ICI-199,441 (0.025–0.2 mg/kg) subcutaneously over 3 days, tolerance to the antinociceptive effects, assessed by an acetic acid-induced abdominal constriction test, developed in a repeated dose-dependent manner. The tolerance-development potency of TRK-820 was the least among these κ-opioid receptor agonists. Similarly, TRK-820 and U-50,488H induced tolerance to their sedative effects as judged by a wheel-running test in mice. Greater tolerance was developed to the sedative effect than to the antinociceptive effect in both compounds. After repeated administration, the number of κ-opioid receptors in the mouse brain was reduced by U-50,488H (80 mg/kg) but not by TRK-820 (0.4 mg/kg). There was no change of the affinity by the treatment with both compounds. These results demonstrated that the κ-opioid receptor agonists developed tolerance both to the antinociceptive and the sedative effects, though the tolerance to the sedative effect developed more readily than tolerance to the antinociceptive effect. The difference in the potency for down-regulating the κ-opioid receptors in the brain may account for the tolerance-development potency of the compounds.