In this autoradiographic study we have analysed the regional changes in the density of mu-opioid receptors produced by the chronic administration of sufentanil alone and after concurrent administration with nimodipine. mu-Opioid receptors in the central nervous system (CNS) of rats were labelled using 5 nM [3H]DAMGO. Sufentanil, a high-efficacy agonist, was administered for 7 days by chronic infusion (2 microg/h). Another group of animals received a simultaneous infusion of sufentanil (2 microg/h) and nimodipine (1 microg/h) for 7 days. These two drug regimes have been previously shown to induce tolerance and supersensitivity to the analgesic effect of the opioid, respectively. Our results clearly demonstrate that opioid tolerance is associated with a generalised down-regulation of mu-opioid binding sites throughout the brain and the spinal cord. Compared with the findings in tolerant animals, the CNS of animals supersensitive to sufentanil showed less down-regulation of mu-opioid receptors, to the extent that, particularly in brain areas related to nociception, such as the somatosensory cortex, central grey, raphe magnus nucleus and dorsal horn of the spinal cord, no down-regulation occurred. These neurochemical findings may contribute to the functional interaction between nimodipine and sufentanil that we have previously observed in analgesic studies.