Spontaneous morphine withdrawal from the rat spinal cord.
A characteristic and reproducible sign of narcotic withdrawal is the naloxone induced increase in arterial pressure. In morphine-dependent rats allowed to undergo spontaneous withdrawal (6-24 h) and then transected at the spinal C-1 level, arterial pressure was maintained at a significantly higher level than either spinal-transected nondependent controls or morphine-dependent, spinal-transected rats pithed from C-1 to L-4. These findings indicate that the morphine-dependent spinal cord, independent of supraspinal influences, is able to exhibit an autonomic component of spontaneous withdrawal.
D000818:Animals; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects; D009020:Morphine; D009270:Naloxone / Q000494:pharmacology; D051381:Rats; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000187:drug effects*; D013375:Substance Withdrawal Syndrome / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013997:Time Factors
D009270:Naloxone; D009020:Morphine