Effects of naloxone and naltrexone on drug-induced hypothermia in mice.

The hypothermia produced by injecting apomorphine into mice was potentiated by morphine; it was antagonized by haloperidol, by naloxone and by naltrexone. The hypothermic responses to morphine, chlorpromazine and ethanol were also blocked by naltrexone. However, naltrexone potentiated the hypothermic response to pentobarbital. Tolerance to morphine, produced by subcutaneous implantation of a morphine pellet, was accompanied by cross-tolerance to apomorphine-induced hypothermia. Animals made tolerant to apomorphine were not tolerant to morphine-induced hypothermia. The dopamine supersensitivity resulting from chronic treatment with haloperidol potentiated the hypothermic response to apomorphine but not to morphine. These results suggest that endogenous opioids may serve as mediators in the control of thermoregulation by dopamine.