The role of encephals in pain transmission has been studied for more than three decades. These hormones act as neurotransmitters, causing neurons to communicate with each other.
Encephalin is a hormone produced in certain areas of the brain and in the pituitary or pituitary gland; it is released and distributed to other parts of the body, such as the gastrointestinal tract and the medulourno.
- The discovery of endogenous opiates and recognition of their importance in brain function.
- Homeostasis and neuroendocrine regulation has been one of the great events of modern biology.
Thus, the discovery of such hormones, such as encephalalines in the periacuctal gray substance and spinal cord, reinforces the idea that these systems could contribute to the transmission of pain-related sensory information.
Opioid peptides are known this way because they attach to the same receptors as those that attach to opiates and because they share certain pharmacological properties of morphine, which is also an opiate.
Encephalalines are distributed throughout the brain, but the increased fixation capacity is found in the nerve endings of the middle brain and thalamus, where the beams that drive the sensation of pain are found.
Encephalins are also found in the amygdala, which is associated with the sense of well-being of metabolism, the mechanism of action and the main effects of encephalins and endorphins on the body.
The amino acid sequence of encephalalines is present in longer peptides, extracted from the pituitary gland; Subsequently, larger peptides, endorphins, were also detected in nerve cells, so endorphins are 12 to 100 times more active than encephalins.
Research shows that encephalins inhibit presynaptic and post-synaptic two associated pain fibers, type C and type A. Like opiates, encephalalines inhibit neuronal activity because they decrease sodium permeability.
In addition, encephalalines cause prolonged changes in cellular metabolism, causing:
Encephalalines act in various forms in the central nervous system, such as:
The effect of encephalins is not only visible in the brain, but also act on the cardiovascular system causing bradycardia:
The frequency and intensity with which acupuncture points are stimulated are related to these effects on the central nervous system and cardiovascular system. For example (3):
Thus, it seems that encephalalines have a lot to do with pain: they cause analgesia, that is, they relieve it, they are sedatives similar to morphine, a great discovery for pain-related diseases.