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Abstract
Mice which have been selectively bred for differences in sensitivity to acute doses
of alcohol have also been shown to differ in severity of seizures upon withdrawal
from chronic alcohol administration. We investigated the responsiveness of these mice
to withdrawal from chronic morphine treatment. Mice were made dependent on morphine
via pellet implantation, and withdrawal was precipitated with naloxone challenge.
Mice which are less sensitive to the hypnotic effects of ethanol (short sleep: SS)
displayed more jumping and wet dog shakes during withdrawal than did the more sensitive
long sleep (LS) mice. In addition, the amount of jumping was dependent on the dose
of naloxone in both lines. Differences between lines in naloxone precipitated withdrawal
may reflect differences in alterations in extrapyramidal dopaminergic activity, but
other substrates for the observed differences cannot be discounted. Finally, the observed
difference between SS and LS mice in severity of morphine withdrawal parallels the
previously reported difference between these lines in seizure severity during withdrawal
from alcohol.