Morphine-induced analgesia in rats withdrawn from concurrent nimodipine and morphine treatment

The effect of repeated administration of dihydropyridine calcium channel antagonist, nimodipine, given concurrently with morphine on the development of tolerance to the antinociceptive actions of morphine in rats was studied. In acute experiments nimodipine (1 mg/kg i.p.) enhanced the antinociceptive effect of morphine (2.5 mg/kg s.c.) in the hot-plate and tail immersion tests. Daily administration of morphine either for 10 days (increasing the daily dose from 20 to 35 mg/kg) or for 24 days (increasing the daily dose from 20 to 70 mg/kg) induced tolerance to the antinociceptive effect of a challenge dose of morphine (10 mg/kg) administered 24 h after the withdrawal from chronic morphine. Concurrent administration of nimodipine (1 mg/kg per day) with morphine for 10 or 24 days augmented the reduction of the antinociceptive effect of morphine. Neither acute nor repeated administration of nimodipine with morphine altered the concentrations of morphine or its metabolite morphine 6-glucuronide in the brain tissue or in the plasma. The observed further reduction in the nociceptive response in morphine tolerant animals pre-treated with nimodipine is, most probably, due to the adaptive changes in the central dihydropyridine calcium channels induced by the withdrawal from repeated nimodipine treatment.