title: Effects of Morphine on Behavioral Task Performance in SIV-Infected Rhesus Macaques.
abstract: The abuse of opiates such as morphine in synergy with HIV infection not only exacerbates neuropathogenesis but significantly impacts behavioral attributes in HIV infected subjects. Thus, the goal of the current study was to characterize behavioral perturbations in rhesus macaques subjected to chronic morphine and SIV infection. Specifically, we assessed three behavioral tasks: motor skill (MS), forelimb force (FFT) and progressive ratio (PR) tasks. After collecting baseline control data (44 weeks) and data during the morphine-only dependency period (26 weeks), a subset of animals were productively infected with neurovirulent strains of SIVmac (R71/E17) for an additional 33 weeks. A general pattern in the results is that behavioral decline occurred with high CSF viral loads but not necessarily with high plasma viral loads. Compared to saline controls, all treated animals showed significant decreases in performance on all three behavioral tasks during the morphine-only dependency period. During the post infection period, only the morphine plus SIV group showed a significant further decline and this only occurred for the MS task. Taken together, these data demonstrate a clear effect of morphine to produce behavioral deficits and also suggest that morphine can act synergistically with SIV/HIV to exacerbate behavioral deficits.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular & Integrative Physiology, University of Kansas Medical Center, 3901 Rainbow Blvd., mailstop 3043, Kansas City, KS, 66160-7336, USA.
authors.forename: Joanne K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Marcario
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA.
authors.forename: Gurudutt
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pendyala
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular & Integrative Physiology, University of Kansas Medical Center, 3901 Rainbow Blvd., mailstop 3043, Kansas City, KS, 66160-7336, USA.
authors.forename: Mariam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Riazi
authors.affiliation: Research Design and Analysis Unit, Life Span Institute, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA.
authors.forename: Kandace
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fleming
authors.affiliation: Research Design and Analysis Unit, Life Span Institute, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA.
authors.forename: Janet
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Marquis
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience, University of Nebraska Medical Center, 985880 Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198, USA.
authors.forename: Shannon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Callen
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA.
authors.forename: Steven J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Lisco
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA.
authors.forename: Stephen C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Fowler
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular & Integrative Physiology, University of Kansas Medical Center, 3901 Rainbow Blvd., mailstop 3043, Kansas City, KS, 66160-7336, USA. pcheney@kumc.edu.
authors.forename: Paul D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Cheney
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience, University of Nebraska Medical Center, 985880 Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198, USA. sbuch@unmc.edu.
authors.forename: Shilpa J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Buch
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D008253:Macaca mulatta; D008297:Male; D009020:Morphine / Q000633:toxicity*; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D016097:Simian Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015302:Simian Immunodeficiency Virus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D019562:Viral Load / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D009020:Morphine
keywords: AIDS; Behavior; Forelimb force; Morphine; Motor skill; Progressive ratio; SIV