Dual action of morphine and related drugs on compulsive gnawing of rats.

Rats received daily i.p. injections of p-chlorophenylalanine (PCPA) for 3 days, before morphine and related drugs were implanted into the lateral thalamus or injected systemically. PCPA enhanced the stereotyped response to morphine, methadone, and apomorphine, as expressed by compulsive gnawing, but abolished the antagonistic effect of large doses of i.p. morphine. Thus, suppression of gnawing by large doses of systemic morphine and related analgesics may be mediated by a serotoninergic pathway. PCPA also brought to light the ability of pethidine to cause gnawing, which is otherwise suppressed by the strong antagonistic effect of this drug. Morphine and related analgesic drugs exert a dual effect: stimulation of gnawing via a catecholaminergic mechanism and inhibition of gnawing by a serotoninergic mechanism.