Effect of morphine and naloxone on priming-induced audiogenic seizures in BALB/c mice. (1/3881)

1 Morphine (1-200 mg/kg s.c.) reduced the incidence and prolonged the latency of priming-induced audiogenic siezures in a dose-dependent manner. 2 This effect was reversed by naloxone (1 and 2 mg/kg) although naloxone was itself inactive. 3 This priming-induces seizure model may be useful in the study of tolerance and physical dependence.  (+info)

Spinal antinociceptive synergism between morphine and clonidine persists in mice made acutely or chronically tolerant to morphine. (2/3881)

Morphine (Mor) tolerance has been attributed to a reduction of opioid-adrenergic antinociceptive synergy at the spinal level. The present experiments tested the interaction of intrathecally (i.t.) administered Mor-clonidine (Clon) combinations in mice made acutely or chronically tolerant to Mor. ICR mice were pretreated with Mor either acutely (40 nmol i.t., 8 h; 100 mg/kg s.c., 4 h) or chronically (3 mg/kg s.c. every 6 h days 1 and 2; 5 mg/kg s.c. every 6 h days 3 and 4). Antinociception was detected via the hot water (52.5 degrees C) tail-flick test. After the tail-flick latencies returned to baseline levels, dose-response curves were generated to Mor, Clon, and Mor-Clon combinations in tolerant and control mice. Development of tolerance was confirmed by significant rightward shifts of the Mor dose-response curves in tolerant mice compared with controls. Isobolographic analysis was conducted; the experimental combined ED50 values were compared statistically against their respective theoretical additive ED50 values. In all Mor-pretreated groups, the combination of Mor and Clon resulted in significant leftward shifts in the dose-response curves compared with those of each agonist administered separately. In all tolerant and control groups, the combination of Mor and Clon produced an ED50 value significantly less than the corresponding theoretical additive ED50 value. Mor and Clon synergized in Mor-tolerant as well as in control mice. Spinally administered adrenergic/opioid synergistic combinations may be effective therapeutic strategies to manage pain in patients apparently tolerant to the analgesic effects of Mor.  (+info)

Discriminative stimulus effects of naltrexone after a single dose of morphine in the rat. (3/3881)

The discriminative stimulus effects of an acute morphine (MOR) --> naltrexone (NTX) combination were characterized and compared with the stimulus effects of NTX-precipitated and spontaneous withdrawal from chronic MOR administration. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 6-8) were trained to discriminate between two drug treatments in a discrete-trial avoidance/escape procedure: MOR (10 mg./kg, s.c., 4 h) --> NTX (0.3 mg/kg, s.c., 0.25 h) versus saline (SAL, 1 ml/kg, s. c., 4 h) --> NTX (0.3 mg/kg, s.c., 0.25 h). Subjects responded only on the SAL --> NTX-appropriate lever when SAL was given 3.75 h after MOR or 3.75 h before any dose of NTX (0.3-100 mg/kg). Responding was dose dependent and MOR --> NTX-appropriate when NTX (0.01-0.1 mg/kg) followed MOR. Full MOR --> NTX-appropriate responding was dependent on the pretreatment dose and time of MOR, with full effects observed only when MOR (10 mg/kg) was given 3 to 4 h before NTX. While subjects were maintained on either 20- or 40 mg/kg/day of MOR via osmotic pump, NTX produced full dose-dependent, MOR --> NTX-appropriate responding. When the MOR-filled pumps were removed, partial MOR --> NTX-appropriate responding occurred, peaking at 6 to 12 h. The physical withdrawal signs produced by NTX after acute or during chronic MOR exposure were of smaller magnitude compared with the ones that occurred during abrupt withdrawal from chronic MOR. A qualitatively unique "withdrawal" stimulus that is dose- and time-dependent appears to be the basis of this MOR --> NTX discrimination.  (+info)

Extinction of responding maintained by timeout from avoidance. (4/3881)

The resistance to extinction of lever pressing maintained by timeout from avoidance was examined. Rats were trained under a concurrent schedule in which responses on one lever postponed shock on a free-operant avoidance (Sidman) schedule (response-shock interval = 30 s) and responses on another lever produced 2 min of signaled timeout from avoidance on a variable-ratio 15 schedule. Following extended training (106 to 363 2-hr sessions), two experiments were conducted. In Experiment 1 two different methods of extinction were compared. In one session, all shocks were omitted, and there was some weakening of avoidance but little change in timeout responding. In another session, responding on the timeout lever was ineffective, and under these conditions timeout responding showed rapid extinction. The within-session patterns produced by extinction manipulations were different than the effects of drugs such as morphine, which also reduces timeout responding. In Experiment 2 shock was omitted for many consecutive sessions. Response rates on the avoidance lever declined relatively rapidly, with noticeable reductions within 5 to 10 sessions. Extinction of the timeout lever response was much slower than extinction of avoidance in all 4 rats, and 2 rats continued responding at baseline levels for more than 20 extinction sessions. These results show that lever pressing maintained by negative reinforcement can be highly resistant to extinction. The persistence of responding on the timeout lever after avoidance extinction is not readily explained by current theories.  (+info)

Modulation of Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II activity by acute and chronic morphine administration in rat hippocampus: differential regulation of alpha and beta isoforms. (5/3881)

Calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMK II) has been shown to be involved in the regulation of opioid receptor signaling. The present study showed that acute morphine treatment significantly increased both Ca2+/calmodulin-independent and Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent activities of CaMK II in the rat hippocampus, with little alteration in the protein level of either alpha or beta isoform of CaMK II. However, chronic morphine treatment, by which rats were observed to develop apparent tolerance to morphine, significantly down-regulated both Ca2+/calmodulin-independent and Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent activities of CaMK II and differentially regulated the expression of alpha and beta isoforms of CaMK II at protein and mRNA levels. Application of naloxone or discontinuation of morphine treatment after chronic morphine administration, which induced the withdrawal syndrome of morphine, resulted in the overshoot of CaMK II (at both protein and mRNA levels) and its kinase activity. The phenomena of overshoot were mainly observed in the beta isoform of CaMK II but not in the alpha isoform. The effects of both acute and chronic morphine treatments on CaMK II could be completely abolished by the concomitant application of naloxone, indicating that the effects of morphine were achieved through activation of opioid receptors. Our data demonstrated that both acute and chronic morphine treatments could effectively modulate the activity and the expression of CaMK II in the hippocampus.  (+info)

Presynaptic inhibition of GABA(B)-mediated synaptic potentials in the ventral tegmental area during morphine withdrawal. (6/3881)

Opioids increase the firing of dopamine cells in the ventral tegmental area by presynaptic inhibition of GABA release. This report describes an acute presynaptic inhibition of GABAB-mediated IPSPs by mu- and kappa-opioid receptors and the effects of withdrawal from chronic morphine treatment on the release of GABA at this synapse. In slices taken from morphine-treated guinea pigs after washing out the morphine (withdrawn slices), a low concentration of a mu receptor agonist increased, rather than decreased, the amplitude of the GABAB IPSP. In withdrawn slices, after blocking A1-adenosine receptors with 8-cyclopentyl-1, 3-dipropylxantine, mu-opioid receptor activation inhibited the IPSP at all concentrations and increased the maximal inhibition. In addition, during withdrawal, there was a tonic increase in adenosine tone that was further increased by forskolin or D1-dopamine receptor activation, suggesting that metabolism of cAMP was the source of adenosine. The results indicate that during acute morphine withdrawal, there was an upregulation of the basal level of an opioid-sensitive adenylyl cyclase. Inhibition of this basal activity by opioids had two effects. First, a decrease in the formation of cAMP that decreased adenosine tone. This effect predominated at low mu receptor occupancy and increased the amplitude of the IPSP. Higher agonist concentrations inhibited transmitter release by both kinase-dependent and -independent pathways. This study indicates that the consequences of the morphine-induced upregulation of the cAMP cascade on synaptic transmission are dependent on the makeup of receptors and second messenger pathways present on any given terminal.  (+info)

Effects and interactions of opioids on plasma exudation induced by cigarette smoke in guinea pig bronchi. (7/3881)

The effects of opioids on cigarette smoke-induced plasma exudation were investigated in vivo in the main bronchi of anesthetized guinea pigs, with Evans blue dye as a plasma marker. Acute inhalation of cigarette smoke increased plasma exudation by 216% above air control values. Morphine, 0.1-10 mg/kg but not 30 mg/kg, inhibited the exudation but had no significant effect on substance P-induced exudation. Both 10 and 30 mg/kg of morphine increased exudation in air control animals, an effect inhibited by antihistamines but not by a tachykinin neurokinin type 1-receptor antagonist. Naloxone inhibited all morphine responses. Cigarette smoke-induced plasma exudation was inhibited by a mu-opioid-receptor agonist (DAMGO) but not by agonists at delta (DPDPE)- or kappa (U-50488H)-receptors. None of these agonists affected exudation in air control animals. DPDPE prevented the inhibition by DAMGO of cigarette smoke-induced plasma exudation, and the combination of DAMGO and DPDPE increased exudation in air control animals. Prevention of inhibition and the combination-induced increase were inhibited by antihistamines or the mast cell-stabilizing drug sodium cromoglycate. U-50488H did not alter the response to either DAMGO or DPDPE. We conclude that, in guinea pig main bronchi in vivo, mu-opioid-receptor agonists inhibit cigarette smoke-induced plasma exudation via a prejunctional mechanism. Plasma exudation induced by mu- and delta-receptor interactions is due to endogenous histamine release from mast cells.  (+info)

Morphine preconditioning attenuates neutrophil activation in rat models of myocardial infarction. (8/3881)

Previous results from our laboratory have suggested that morphine can attenuate neutrophil activation in patients with acute myocardial infarction. To elucidate if morphine preconditioning (PC) has the same effects via activation of neutrophil endopeptidase 24.11 (NEP), we measured serum levels of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), gp100MEL14 and NEP in adult Wistar rats subjected to ten different protocols (n = 10 for each) at baseline, immediately after and 2 h after morphine PC. All groups were subjected to 30 min of occlusion and 2 h of reperfusion. Similarly, morphine-induced PC was elicited by 3-min drug infusions (100 micrograms/kg) interspersed with 5-min drug-free periods before the prolonged 30-min occlusion. Infarct size (IS), as a percentage of the area at risk (AAR), was determined by triphenyltetrazolium staining. Pretreatment with morphine increased NEP activities (9.86 +/- 1.98 vs. 5.12 +/- 1.10 nmol/mg protein in control group; p < 0.001). Naloxone (mu-opioid receptor antagonist) (4.82 +/- 1.02 nmol/mg protein) and phosphoramidon (NEP inhibitor) (4.66 +/- 1.00 nmol/mg protein) inhibited morphine-activated NEP, whereas glibenclamide (ATP-sensitive potassium channel antagonist) and chelerythrine (protein kinase C inhibitor) had no effects. The ICAM-1 and gp100MEL14 of the third sampling were lowest for those with morphine PC (280 +/- 30 ng/ml and 2.2 +/- 0.7 micrograms/ml; p < 0.001), but naloxone (372 +/- 38 ng/ml and 3.8 +/- 0.9 micrograms/ml) and phosphoramidon (382 +/- 40 ng/ml and 4.2 +/- 1.1 micrograms/ml) abolished the above phenomenon. IS/AAR were definitely lowest for those with morphine PC (24 +/- 7%; p < 0.05). Morphine preconditioning increases NEP activities to attenuate shedding of gp100MEL14 and to ICAM-1 and, thus, provides myocardial protection.  (+info)