Tolerance to behavioral effects of clonidine after chronic administration of morphine.

Male rats (Buffalo strain) were studied under a procedure in which each 30th lick of a drinking tube resulted in the delivery of 0.01 ml water. The effects of clonidine HC1 (0.003-0.3 mg/kg, IP) were determined before, during and after exposure to conditions in which a morphine sulfate solution (0.5 mg/ml in 0.4% saccharin) was the only source of fluid. After either 10 or 80 days exposure to the chronic morphine regimen, rats were maintained under a repetitive cycle in which the morphine was available for 3 days and then removed for 4 days. The subjects consumed an average of 100 mg/kg/day morphine during the times it was available. The effects of clonidine were redetermined once weekly, on the 4th day after removal of the morphine solution. The effects of clonidine were also determined after morphine was removed for more prolonged periods (18-67 days). Chronic exposure to the morphine solution resulted in a 4- to 5-fold shift to the right in the dose-effect curve for clonidine (decreased responding). ED50 values returned to pre-morphine levels when rats were tested at longer post-morphine times (e.g., 18 days). Under the conditions of this experiment, chronic exposure to morphine produced marked cross-tolerance to the behavioral effects of clonidine.