JUMPING IN MICE ELICITED BY -NAPHTHYLOXYACETIC ACID (-NOAA)

¹ Pfizer Inc., Groton, Connecticut

-Naphthyloxyacetic acid (-NOAA) elicits repetitive vertical jumping in mice shortly after the administration of intraperitoneal doses from 237 to 1000 mg/kg. Standard stimulant treatments such as amphetamine and pentylenetetrazol do not exhibit this effect. Despite the qualitative similarity of -NOAA-elicited jumping to that caused by precipitated withdrawal from morphine, -NOAA does not mimic in other ways the effects of precipitated withdrawal, nor does it interact with morpine in ways suggesting a similarity to known narcotic antagonists Neither does -NOAA resemble sodium 5-(1 ,3-dimethylbutyl)-5-ethyl barbiturate, a convulsant barbiturate recently reported to elicit similar jumping behavior in mice. The juniping response after -NOAA offers a potential tool for determining whether agents reported to affect withdrawal jumping, and therefore claimed to alter physical dependence on opiates, have a nonspecific effect on jumping behavior.