Naltrexone-induced aversions: assessment by place conditioning, taste reactivity, and taste avoidance paradigms

The reinforcing/aversive properties of various doses of naltrexone (0.01, 1, and 10 mg/kg) were assessed in three experiments that employed place conditioning, taste reactivity, and taste avoidance paradigms. Naltrexone produced a place aversion and a taste aversion, but did not produce aversive taste reactivity responses, even at the highest dose (10 mg/kg) tested. This suggests that drugs that produce a place aversion do not necessarily produce a conditional dislike for a flavored solution with which they are paired.