Title: endorphin
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - endorphin
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.11754
Status: current

Definition
One of several peptides (including the enkephalins) that activates the body’s opiate receptors, causing an analgesic effect; literally, endogenous morphine-like substance.

Related Terms
- enkephalins: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/11755
- opiate receptors: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/11974

Source
- PAC, 2015, 87, 841. 'IUPAC Glossary of terms used in neurotoxicology (IUPAC Recommendations 2015)' on page 865 (https://doi.org/10.1515/pac-2015-0103)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/11754/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/11754/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/11754/xml

Citation: Citation: 'endorphin' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.11754
License: The IUPAC Gold Book is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike CC BY-SA 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) for individual terms.
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Disclaimer: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is continuously reviewing and, where needed, updating terms in the Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the IUPAC Gold Book). Users of these terms are encouraged to include the version of a term with its use and to check regularly for updates to term definitions that you are using.
Accessed: 2026-04-18T01:26:06+00:00