Periaqueductal gray neurons response to microiontophoretically injected morphine in naive and morphine-dependent rats.

The attempt of this study was to investigate the direct effects of increasing doses of morphine on the neuronal activity of the periaqueductal gray in morphine-naive and morphine-dependent rats. The microiontophoresis technique was used for this purpose. The four different responses induced by morphine exhibited dose-related patterns. Naloxone antagonized these responses in about 40% of the cases. Differences were found in the sensitivity of the neurons of morphine between naive and morphine-dependent rats. The phenomena of acute tolerance, chronic tolerance and dependence have been found. The results of this study indicate the presence of different neural populations in the periaqueductal gray in relation to their response to morphine, supporting the notion that subpopulations of opiate receptors exist within this brain area.