Morphine suppresses the proestrous surge of GnrH in pituitary portal plasma of rats.

Virgin proestrous rats were acutely treated with 2 doses of morphine sulfate (MS) (5-8 and 40 mg/kg BW) or naloxone HCl (NH) (10 mg/kg BW) co-administered with the high dose of MS, and the pituitary portal plasma concentrations of gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) were compared with those of untreated proestrous (PE) and diestrous (DE) control animals. LH and FSH were measured in systemic plasma obtained by venipuncture just prior to the collection of portal blood. Both doses of MS severely diminished the PE surges of LH and FSH, but NH reversed the effect of MS and restored the circulating gonadotropins to PE levels. However, only PE rats treated with the high dose of MS exhibited significantly reduced GnRH concentrations in portal plasma. This suggests that the reduction of gonadotropin concentrations is not due merely to reduced GnRH secretion by the hypothalamus but may involve other mechanism(s) as well. However, in rats given the high dose of MS the severe reduction in pituitary gonadotropin secretion is attributable in large part to the corresponding decrease in hypothalamic GnRH release, since NH restored the GnRH and LH/FSH plasma concentrations to PE levels.