Background Underlying mechanisms behind opioid-induced respiratory depression are not
fully understood. The authors investigated changes in burst rate, intraburst firing frequency,
membrane properties, as well as presynaptic and postsynaptic events of respiratory neurons
in the isolated brainstem after administration of opioid receptor agonists. Methods Newborn
rat brainstem-spinal cord preparations were used and superfused with mu-, kappa-, and
delta-opioid receptor agonists. Whole cell recordings were performed from three major …