This book is being published at a time when opioid receptors have recently been cloned. The structural characteristics of opioid receptors and the recent advances in their molecular cloning and expression are explicated. Connecting these cloned opioid receptors with the pharmacology of opioid receptor actions is of particular importance. The use of antisense oligodeoxynucleotides to opioid receptors to elucidate the neural mechanisms of opioid action is detailed.
As analgesia is one of the most important clinical functions for opioids and opioid peptides, this book concentrates on the...