Human β-endorphin-like immunoactivity was measured in highly trained athletes (n = 10), alcoholics in the early phase of abstinence (n = 9) and normal controls (n = 15) using the Nichols Allegro immunoradiometric assay. The assay was examined for cross reactivity against related peptides, β-lipotropin and human N-acetyl β-endorphin. Venous blood sampling was carried out in the morning at 0900 and 1100 hours in a fasting state. Using two-way analysis of variance there was a significant effect of subject group on β-endorphin concentration (p = 0.029). Post-hoc analysis using the Bonferroni t-test showed that the source of the difference was the alcoholic group having significantly lower β-endorphin irnmunoreactivity (p < 0.05). There was no difference between the controls and the athletes. There was a positive correlation between plasma β-endorphin level at 1100 hours and the subsequent ACTH incremental response to naloxone in the group as a whole (r = 0.48, p = 0.004). The assay showed 100% cross reactivity with β-lipotropin and 73% cross reactivity with N-acetyl-β-endorphin. We conclude that alcoholics have reduced levels of β-endorphin-like immunoactivity. While β-endorphin is known not to cross the blood-brain barrier, levels of plasma β-endorphin-like immunoactivity may indirectly reflect central opioid activity.
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