Effects of acute morphine administration on the catecholamine metabolism of three strains of mice.

Abstract

Inbred mouse strains exhibit differences in motor activity and brain catecholamine metabolism after acute morphine injection. The two strains C57BL/6J and Balb/cJ, which increased motor activity after morphine present also an increased noradrenaline turnover in the pons medulla, whereas no difference were found in the DBA/2J strain whose motor activity was unchanged. A correlation seems to exist between motor activity and the noradrenaline metabolism in the brain stem.