Elsevier

Brain Research

Volume 474, Issue 2, 6 December 1988, Pages 364-368
Brain Research

Aversive properties of opiate receptor blockade: evidence for exclusively central mediation in naive and morphine-dependent rats

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Abstract

The motivational effects of exclusively peripheral or central opiate receptor blockade were studied using place conditioning. Place aversions were observed with intraventricular (i.c.v.) methylnaloxone (MN) in both naive (200–1000 ng) and morphine-dependent rats (50–500 ng). Subcutaneous MN (0.03–10 mg/kg) was ineffective in naive rats; in dependent rats a small aversion was seen at the highest dose. Place aversions were not necessarily associated with behavioral signs of withdrawal. The data suggest that the aversive properties of opioid receptor antagonism are centrally mediated in both naive and dependent rats, and that their enhancement in morphine-dependent subjects results from a sensitized central mechanism rather than from the recruitment of a peripheral component.

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    This study was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, A.D.E.R.A. (Bordeaux), Universite´de Bordeaux II, I.N.S.E.R.M., the Foundation pour la Re´cherche Me´dicale and the Regional Council of Aquitaine.

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    We are grateful to Drs. Charles O'Brien, Jean-Paul Herman and Robert Dantzer for their comments on the manuscript.

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