Do persistent morphine effects involve interactions with the genome?
Male rats were administered morphine in a liquid diet until five days prior to mating with drug naive nulliparous female rats which received no treatment during gestation. The birth weight of resulting litters was significantly reduced. The preconceptionally morphine-treated offspring showed a 34.8% +/- 17.1% mortality during the first 8 days compared with 0% in the control group and their weight gain profile was decreased as compared with controls. A persistent effect of paternally administered morphine was seen in 90-day-old male offspring. A possible way to further enlighten the underlying mechanisms is proposed.
Institute of Neurobiology, University of Göteborg, Sweden.
P S
PS
Eriksson
L
L
Rönnbäck
E
E
Hansson
D000818:Animals; D001724:Birth Weight / Q000187:drug effects*; D005260:Female; D005796:Genes / Q000187:drug effects*; D008297:Male; D009020:Morphine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D015290:Second Messenger Systems / Q000187:drug effects; D013094:Spermatozoa
D009020:Morphine