Morphine and naloxone's effects on sexual behavior of the female golden hamster

• Published in: Pharmacology, biochemistry and behavior Vol. 11; no. 6; pp. 673 - 681
• Main Authors: Ostrowski, Nancy L., Stapleton, June M., Noble, Ralph G., Reid, Larry D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.12.1979
• Subjects: Animals; Castration; Cricetinae; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Female; Hamsters; Injections, Intraventricular; Mesocricetus; Mice; Morphine; Morphine - administration & dosage; Morphine - pharmacology; Motor Activity - drug effects; Naloxone; Naloxone - administration & dosage; Naloxone - pharmacology; Opioids; Sexual behavior; Sexual Behavior, Animal - drug effects; Morphine; Naloxone; Hamsters; Sexual behavior; Opioids
• ISSN: 0091-3057; 1873-5177
• DOI: 10.1016/0091-3057(79)90261-2

The effects of morphine and naloxone were observed after administration to female golden hamsters ( Mesocricetus auratus). Large doses of morphine, 80 mg/kg, consistently produced sedation and behavioral depression of responses to nociceptive stimuli. Smaller doses of morphine (e.g., 10 mg/kg), that produced few other behavioral changes, suppressed a measure of female sexual responding. The suppressive effects on sexual behavior were reversed by 4 mg/kg of naloxone. Morphine administered intracerebroventricularly had little effect on sexual responding, even at doses which produced other side effects. Doses of 4 and 8 mg/kg of naloxone in opioid-naive subjects did not reliably alter sexual responding up to 2 hr after administration. These observations lead to the suggestion that morphine produces effects which are incompatible with full sexual functioning in female hamsters.