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Effectiveness of Nantradol in Blocking Narcotic Withdrawal Signs Through Nonnarcotic Mechanisms
Author(s) -
LAL HARBANS,
BENNETT DEBRA A.,
SHEARMAN GARY T.,
McCARTEN MICHAEL D.,
MURPHY RUSSELL,
ANGEJA ANTONIO
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
the journal of clinical pharmacology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.92
H-Index - 116
eISSN - 1552-4604
pISSN - 0091-2700
DOI - 10.1002/j.1552-4604.1981.tb02615.x
Subject(s) - clonidine , morphine , (+) naloxone , narcotic , yohimbine , pharmacology , anesthesia , anxiogenic , medicine , narcotic antagonist , psychology , antagonist , anxiolytic , receptor
Male rats were made narcotic dependent through continuous intravenous infusion of morphine. During withdrawal, nantradol, clonidine, and morphine were found to block withdrawal signs in a dose‐dependent manner. Almost complete alleviation of withdrawal occurred with nantradol or clonidine at 0.16 mg/kg and with morphine at 40 mg/kg. The effectiveness of morphine, but not of nantradol or clonidine, was reversed by naloxone. Likewise, in naive rats given castor oil, naloxone did not block the antidiarrheal effect of nantradol or clonidine. In order to compare possible subjective effects of nantradol with other antiwithdrawal drugs, naive rats were trained to discriminate either morphine, cyclazocine, or clonidine from vehicle by selecting different levers for reinforcement. Nantradol failed to produce any generalization to morphine, cyclazocine, or clonidine, suggesting that this drug does not produce central subjective effects like those of the training drugs. In additional testing in behavioral experiments, nantradol failed to produce any sign of anxiogenic activity.