From: bbs@a.cannon (Samson) Subject: Re: Heroin and Thyroid problems????? Date: 1997/04/22 Newsgroups: alt.drugs.hard > I developed a thyroid (hypo, or low acting) problem during my > heaviest use of heroin, and it is still with me.[...] > Is there any established medical connection between > opiates and the thyroid?[...] It would appear so. Here are some pertinent abstracts. Don't know anything about treatment besides simple replacement therapy. Title The roles of opioid peptides in controlling thyroid stimulating hormone release. Author Judd AM; Hedge GA Source Life Sci, 1982 Nov 29, 31:22, 2529-36 Abstract We have studied the role of the opioid peptides in controlling TSH secretion. Morphine sulfate significantly decreased, while naloxone had no effect on, basal plasma TSH levels of female rats. In contrast, naloxone blocked the stress-induced fall in plasma TSH. Microinjection of beta-endorphin into the third ventricle resulted in a fall in TSH while such injection of naloxone into the posterior hypothalamus increased TSH. Microinjection of beta-endorphin directly into the pituitary caused a rise in plasma TSH. It is concluded that opioid peptides probably play no role in basal TSH secretion, but are involved in the stress-induced fall in TSH. Furthermore, it appears that opioid peptides have a site of action in the hypothalamus to decrease TSH and a direct pituitary action to increase TSH. Title Impaired thyroid function provoked by neonatal treatment with drugs affecting the maturation of monoaminergic and opioidergic neurons. Author Mess B; RĈuzsĈas C; Hayashi S Source Exp Clin Endocrinol, 1989 Sep, 94:1-2, 73-81 Abstract The aim of the present work was to study the basal secretion rate and the reactivity of the TSH-thyroid axis in adult rats neonatally exposed to drugs influencing monoaminergic and opioidergic neurons. The early postnatal administration of drugs antagonistic with the dopaminergic or serotoninergic neurons resulted in a persistent higher rate of basal secretion of TSH, while the administration of drugs synergistic with the monoaminergic neuron systems was weakly influential in this respect. The exposure to opioids in the perinatal period resulted in a permanent reduction of serum TSH levels which was even more pronounced when the exposure to morphine was advanced to the fetal period of life. These data raise the possibility that the permanent TSH depressing effect of perinatal administration of opioids is due to their effect exerted on the maturation of the monoaminergic neurons. From the other hand, our results lead to assume that there is a perinatal critical period in the maturation of monoaminergic neurons regulating TSH secretion in the adult age. In accordance with this assumption, the data obtained in rats bearing perinatal neurotoxic destruction of catecholaminergic neurons contribute to the concept that the disturbed maturation of monoaminergic neurons in the supposed critical period of development might lead to permanent deficiency also in the reactivity of the TSH-thyroid axis. Title Methionine-enkephalin and thyrotropin-stimulating hormone are intimately related in the human anterior pituitary. Author Roth KA; Lorenz RG; McKeel DW; Leykam J; Barchas JD; Tyler AN Source J Clin Endocrinol Metab, 1988 Apr, 66:4, 804-10 Abstract The tissue distribution and function of opioid peptides in humans is incompletely defined. We report here that, unlike that in other species, the human anterior pituitary gland contains high concentrations of methionine-enkephalin (met-enkephalin). The met-enkephalin immunoreactive material was isolated and identified as authentic met-enkephalin by fast atom bombardment-mass spectrometry and Edman degradation sequencing. The met-enkephalin was localized in a large subpopulation of TSH immunoreactive cells (thyrotrophs). No other proenkephalin-derived opioid peptides were found in the pituitary, and there was no overlap between proopiomelanocortin and met-enkephalin immunoreactive cells. These results suggest that the human anterior pituitary gland contains a novel met-enkephalin precursor and a possible role for met-enkephalin in regulating human thyroid function. ==================================================================== From: bbs@a.cannon (Samson) Subject: Re: Heroin and Thyroid problems????? Date: 1997/04/23 Newsgroups: alt.drugs.hard >I am Grateful. Now if only I could understand the medical jargon >(scips is as far as my vocabulary goes) The jargon's not that important. The findings are that opioid agonists cause a short-term decrease in thyroid production, antagonists cause a short-term increase, and animals exposed to opioids prior to birth tend to be chronically hypothyroidic. (There is also a huge literature on the interplay of endogenous opioid systems with other endocrine functions.) This all suggests that chronic hypothyroidism may be caused by heavy opioid use. It's plausible. Are there any demonstrable cases of chronic hypothyroidism in humans exposed to opioids as adults? I don't know. There must be piles of data from methadone clinics waiting to be analyzed.