Novel approach to demonstrate high efficacy of mu opioids in the rat vas deferens: a simple model of predictive value.

14-O-Methyloxymorphone and 14-methoxymetopon were reported as highly selective and potent micro opioid receptor agonists. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the opioid activity of these compounds in vitro and in vivo in comparison to oxymorphone, morphine and DAMGO. The micro opioid receptor efficacy, full or partial agonist nature of opioids was analyzed in the rat vas deferens (RVD) bioassay. Compared to oxymorphone, 14-O-methyloxymorphone and 14-methoxymetopon showed greater affinities to the rodent brain micro opioid receptors in receptor binding assays. In isolated organs 14-O-methyloxymorphone and 14-methoxymetopon were 3-10-fold more potent than the micro agonist opioid peptide, DAMGO. All tested compounds reached at least 70% maximum inhibition in mouse vas deferens (MVD) except morphine and oxymorphone. In the RVD, morphine could not exceed 50% inhibition of the twitches while 14-O-methyloxymorphone and 14-methoxymetopon showed inhibitory effects more than 70%. Oxymorphone reached only 4% maximal agonist effect and antagonized the inhibitory effect of DAMGO. The investigated morphinans produced dose-dependent antinociceptive activities in mice and rats. Both, 14-O-methyloxymorphone and 14-methoxymetopon are highly efficacious micro opioid receptor agonists in the RVD exhibiting full micro agonist properties. The RVD tissue contains mu receptors indicated by the comparable K(e) values of the micro antagonist naltrexone against DAMGO in the MVD. RVD may be a good alternative to assess the mu receptor efficacy of opioid agonists providing a more physiological environment for the ligand-receptor interaction than other efficacy measuring methods such as the [(35)S]GTPgammaS binding assay.