RNA interference targeting mu-opioid receptors reverses the inhibition of fentanyl on glucose-evoked insulin release of rat islets.

Background: Mu opioid receptor plays an important role in many physiological functions. Fentanyl is a widely used opioid receptor agonist for analgesia. This study was conducted to test the role of mu-opioid receptor on insulin release by determining whether fentanyl affected insulin release from freshly isolated rat pancreatic islets and if small interfering RNAs (siRNA) targeting mu-opioid receptor in the islets could knock down mu-opioid receptor expression.

Fentanyl inhibits glucose-stimulated insulin release from beta-cells in rat pancreatic islets.

Aim: To explore the effects of fentanyl on insulin release from freshly isolated rat pancreatic islets in static culture.

Methods: Islets were isolated from the pancreas of mature Sprague Dawley rats by common bile duct intraductal collagenase V digestion and were purified by discontinuous Ficoll density gradient centrifugation. The islets were divided into four groups according to the fentanyl concentration: control group (0 ng/mL), group I (0.