Loperamide (LPM)

Loperamide is an opioid drug used against diarrhoea resulting from gastroenteritis or inflammatory bowel disease. Loperamide is an opioid-receptor agonist and acts on the μ-opioid receptors in the myenteric plexus of the large intestine; by itself it does not affect the central nervous system. It works similarly to morphine, by decreasing the activity of the myenteric plexus, which in turn decreases the tone of the longitudinal and circular smooth muscles of the intestinal wall. Loperamide does cross this barrier, although it is immediately pumped back out into non–central nervous system (CNS) circulation by P-glycoprotein. While this mechanism effectively shields the CNS from exposure (and thus risk of CNS tolerance/dependence) to loperamide, many drugs are known to inhibit P-glycoprotein and may thus render the CNS vulnerable to opiate agonism by loperamide.