A role for endorphins in the pathophysiology of spinal cord injury
Faden, A.I.; Holaday, J.W.
Advances in Biochemical Psychopharmacology 28: 435-446
1981
ISSN/ISBN: 0065-2229 PMID: 7211553 Document Number: 172673
These studies have demonstrated that the opiate-antagonist naloxone improves blood pressure and functional neurologic recovery after spinal injury. From these findings we suggest that endorphins are released in response to spinal injury and contribute to the hypotension and to the ultimate neurologic deficit. Naloxone's ability to reverse the presumed endorphin-mediated hypotension in this model supports the hypothesis that its therapeutic effects may be secondary to its improvement of spinal cord blood flow, thereby reducing the ischemic damage caused by spinal cord trauma.