The effects of acute and chronic morphine treatment and of morphine withdrawal on rat brain in vivo

Abstract

1. The effects of morphine, nalorphine, acetazolamide, and 10% CO2 on brain metabolite concentrations of 24h-starved rats were studied. 2. A single dose of morphine (20mg/kg body wt.) caused an increase in brain glucose concentration (42%) and decreased concentrations of lactate (24%), pyruvate (29%), citrate (20%), α-oxoglutarate (16%), malate (14%) and creatine phosphate (10%) after 30min. No changes were found in adenine nucleotide concentrations. 3. The same dose of morphine increased arterial CO2 from 5.07 to 7.60 kN/m2(38 to 57 Torr), decreased the pH from 7.41 to 7.31 and decreased O2 from 14.1 to 10.8kN/m2(106 to 81 Torr) at 30min. 4. Rats injected with morphine three times daily (20mg/kg body wt.) for 2 weeks had no changes in brain metabolite concentrations or in blood gases 30min after their last injection. 5. Nalorphine (an antagonist of morphine) caused essentially no changes in brain metabolite concentrations in normal rats. When nalorphine (20mg/kg) was administered to rats previously treated with morphine three times daily for 2 weeks, there was an increase in brain glucose (100%), lactate (23%), pyruvate (18%) and citrate (10%) concentrations. 6. Acetazolamide (an inhibitor of carbonic anhydrase) and 10% CO2 increased the arterial CO2 from 4.79 to 6.78kN/m2(36 to 51 Torr) and from 5.32 to 10.8kN/m2(40 to 81 Torr) respectively. 7. Both acetazolamide and 10% CO2 caused changes in brain metabolite concentrations similar to those for acutely administered morphine. Thus 10% CO2 caused increased brain glucose concentration (123%) and decreased brain lactate (46%), pyruvate (34%), citrate (26%), α-oxoglutarate (33%), malate (45%) and creatine phosphate (7%) concentrations. No changes in adenine nucleotide concentrations were found. 8. The results indicate that the effect of morphine on brain metabolite concentrations may be accounted for by the increased [CO2]. 9. These findings constitute a consistent pattern of metabolic changes after acute morphine administration, morphine addiction, and withdrawal from morphine addiction.