Prenatal exposure to ethanol potentiates morphine-induced hypothermia in adult rats.
We have shown that adult rats, exposed to ethanol in utero, are hypersensitive to the analgesic and pituitary-adrenal activating effects of morphine. In the present experiment, two other responses to morphine, hyperthermia and hypothermia, were examined. Compared to controls, adult rats prenatally exposed to ethanol showed a potentiated hypothermic response to 10 and 30 mg/kg morphine. Hyperthermia elicited by low doses of morphine (1.25-5.0 mg/kg) was not affected by prenatal exposure to ethanol. These results extend our observations suggesting that exposure to ethanol in utero produces long-lasting perturbations in opioid systems. That hyperthermia is not affected, however, indicates that these changes are apparently not ubiquitous.
D000818:Animals; D001831:Body Temperature / Q000187:drug effects*; D000431:Ethanol / Q000633:toxicity*; D005260:Female; D009020:Morphine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009271:Naltrexone / Q000494:pharmacology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains
D000431:Ethanol; D009271:Naltrexone; D009020:Morphine