Abstract
Thirty rats (10 rats/group) were fixed with devices for the chronic delivery of naltrexone (1.2 or 2.4 mg/rat/day) or saline. Then, they were subjected to deprivation of food and water for 4 days, during which their body weights were measured twice daily. The rats with naltrexone lost body weight at rates very similar to those of rats receiving saline. This observation is at variance with recent formulations concerning the ordinary functions of the endorphins. Naltrexone suppressed water and food intakes when food and water were presented after the 96-h starvation period.
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We thank Albert Herz for arranging for the facilities to do this work and for discussions with him concerning the implications of these data. L. D. Reid is also affiliated with the Department of Psychology, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York. Janusz Wideman is also affiliated with the Department of Neurochemistry, Medical Research Center of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland.
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Reid, L.D., Wideman, J. Naltrexone has no effects on body weights of starving rats. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 19, 298–300 (1982). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03330263
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03330263