Loperamide-induced Cardiac Depression Is Enhanced by Hyperglycemia: Evidence Relevant to Loperamide Abuse

Cardiac dysryhthmias and death are reported after loperamide abuse. The mechanism of death is not clear and cardiac depression may play a role in this mechanism. Loperamide is widely used as an agonist of the μ-opioid receptor (MOR) in clinical practice. In skeletal muscle, an increase in MOR in response to hyperglycemia is largely attributable to higher expression of the transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), which binds to the promoter of the MOR genes. Therefore, we investigated the cha nges in cardiac MOR caused by hyperglycemia both in vivo and in vitro.
Source: Archives of Medical Research - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Original Article Source Type: research