Rationally designed chimeric peptide of met-enkephalin and FMRFa-[D-Ala2,p-Cl-Phe4]YFa induce multiple opioid receptors mediated antinociception and up-regulate their expression

The physiological role of NPFF/FMRFa family of peptides appears to be complex and exact mechanism of action of these peptides is not yet completely understood. In same line of scrutiny, another analog of YGGFMKKKFMRFamide (YFa), a chimeric peptide of met-enkephalin and FMRFamide, was rationally designed and synthesized which contain D-alanine and p-Cl-phenylalanine residues at 2nd and 4th positions, respectively i.e., Y-(D-Ala)-G-(p-Cl-Phe)-MKKKFMRFamide ([D-Ala2, p-Cl-Phe4]YFa) in order to achieve improved bioavailability and blood brain barrier penetration. Therefore, present study investigates the possible antinociceptive effect of [D-Ala2, p-Cl-Phe4]YFa on intra-peritoneal (i.p.) administration using tail-flick test in rats followed by its opioid receptor(s) specificity using μ, δ and κ receptor antagonists. Further, its antinociceptive effect was examined during 6 days of chronic i.p. treatment and assessed effect of this treatment on differential expression of opioid receptors. [D-Ala2, p-Cl-Phe4]YFa in comparison to parent peptide YFa, induce significantly higher dose dependent antinociception in rats which was mediated by all three opioid receptors (μ, δ and κ). Importantly, it induced comparable antinociception in rats throughout the chronic i.p. treatment and significantly up-regulated the overall expression (mRNA and protein) of μ, δ and κ opioid receptors. Therefore, pharmacological and molecular behavior of [D-Ala2, p-Cl-Phe4]YFa demonstrate that incorporation of D-alanine and p-Cl-phenylalanine residues at appropriate positions in chimeric peptide leads to altered opioid receptor selectivity and enhanced antinociceptive potency, relative to parent peptide.