EFFECTS OF MAMMALIAN FMRF-NH2-RELATED PEPTIDES AND IGG FROM ANTISERUM AGAINST THEM ON AGGRESSION AND DEFEAT-INDUCED ANALGESIA IN MICE

The effects of two endogenous mammalian FMRFamide (Phe-Met-Arg-Phe-NH2)-related peptides, an octapeptide F8Fa (Phe-Leu-Phe-Gln-Pro-Gln-Arg-Phe-NH2) and an octadecapeptide A18Fa(Ala-Gly-Glu-Gly-Leu-Ser-Ser-Pro-Phe-Trp-Ser-Leu-Ala-Pro-Gln-Arg-Phe-NH2), and IgG from serum against them on the responses to aggression and defeat-induced analgesia were examined in subordinate mice in "resident-intruder" pairings. Intracerebroventricular (ICV) administrations of F8Fa and A18Fa (0.01-10-mu-g) reduced, in a dose-dependent manner, the number of bites to obtain defeat in the subordinate mice during the agonistic encounters, as well as attenuating defeat-induced analgesia, with F8Fa having a greater inhibitory effect than A18Fa. Peripheral administration of naloxone (1.0 mg/kg) had a similar inhibitory effect on the number of bites to defeat and the level of defeat-induced analgesia. In contrast, ICV administrations of F8FaIgG and A18Fa-IgG antisera increased the number of bites to defeat and augmented the levels of defeat-induced analgesia, with F8Fa-IgG having a greater effect than A18Fa-IgG. These results provide further evidence that the peptides, F8Fa and A18Fa, are involved in the modulation of opioid-mediated analgesia accompanying biological stressors and suggest that these endogeneous FMRF-NH2-related peptides may also be associated with the expression of opioid-sensitive components of aggressive behavior.