THE EFFECT OF CHRONIC MORPHINE TREATMENT ON EXCITATORY JUNCTION POTENTIALS IN THE MOUSE VAS DEFERENS

Abstract

1 Intracellular recordings were made from smooth muscle cells of vasa deferentia in vitro. Vasa from two groups of mice were studied; the first were naive and the second had been chronically pretreated with morphine for 3 days. The vasa from morphine-pretreated mice were maintained in Krebs solution containing normorphine (300 nm). 2 The resting membrane potentials of the smooth muscle cells were the same in both groups of mice. 3 The excitatory junction potentials (e.j.ps) evoked by stimulation of the intramural nerves were depressed by normorphine in both groups of mice. The EC₅₀ for this action of normorphine was 560 nm for the naive group and 6.6 μm for the morphine-pretreated group. 4 The EC₅₀ for adenosine in depressing e.j.p. amplitude was the same in the two groups. 5 Naloxone did not change the resting membrane potential in cells from either group of mice. In morphine-pretreated mice, naloxone caused a marked increase in the amplitude of the evoked e.j.p. 6 The EC₅₀ for noradrenaline in causing a contractile response of the isolated vas deferens was the same in both groups of mice. 7 The results indicate that changes in postsynaptic sensitivity to transmitter do not occur following morphine pretreatment.