Effect of chronic neonatal morphine and naloxone on sensorimotor and social development of young rats.

Chronic morphine treatment of newborn Long-Evans rat pups between 3-26 days of age (thrice daily starting with 0.5 mg/kg, increased daily by 0.5 mg/kg to 10 mg/kg) led to lags of 1 to 3 days in physical development (body weights and eye opening times) and motor coordination (catalepsy test, grasping, swimming). Chronic naloxone treatment (5 mg/kg administered thrice daily from day 3-26), in contrast, led to modest gains in development on a number of measures (body weights, vaginal opening). Morphine animals also lagged behind controls and naloxone-tested animals in social behaviors, such as homing and play. Chronic naloxone did not block or retard social development; in fact naloxone-treated animals exhibited more rapid acquisition of homing behavior than controls.