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Analgesic effect of etorphine in rats with selective depletions of brain monoamines

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Abstract

The analgesic effect of etorphine was compared with that of morphine in rats with electrolytic lesions of the nucleus medianus raphe or injected intraventricularly with 6-hydroxydopamine.

The effect of both compounds was markedly reduced in animals with raphe lesions, but not significantly modified in those receiving 6-hydroxy-dopamine. Etorphine and morphine significantly increased the forebrain levels of 5-hydroxyindolacetic acid when administered subcutaneously at doses of 5 mg/kg and 2 μg/kg, respectively. Neither drug significantly affected the forebrain levels of monoamines.

It is concluded that, as for morphine, the integrity of the serotoninergic system in the brain is important for the full analgesic effect of etorphine.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche ‘Mario Negri’, Via Eritrea, 62, I-20157, Milan, Italy

    Franca Miranda, Gianluigi Candelaresi & Rosario Samanin

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  1. Franca Miranda
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  2. Gianluigi Candelaresi
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  3. Rosario Samanin
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Miranda, F., Candelaresi, G. & Samanin, R. Analgesic effect of etorphine in rats with selective depletions of brain monoamines. Psychopharmacology 58, 105–109 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00426798

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00426798

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