Day-night rhythms of opioid and non-opioid stress-induced analgesia: differential inhibitory effects of exposure to magnetic fields.

Day-night rhythms occurred in the naloxone-reversible (1.0 mg/kg), warm (opioid) and naloxone-insensitive, cold (non-opioid) swim stress-induced analgesia displayed by CF-1 mice. Maximum antinociceptive responses were evident at night, with the cold stress having significantly greater day- and night-time analgesic effects than the warm stress. An exposure for 30 min to a 0.5 Hz rotating magnetic field (1.5-90 gauss) reduced both the warm and cold stress-induced analgesia, with the magnetic stimuli having significantly greater inhibitory effects at night and on the opioid-induced responses. These results indicate that exposure to oscillating magnetic fields can significantly, and differentially, alter both opioid and non-opioid stress-induced analgesia and their day-night rhythms.