Etonitazine-induced rigidity and its antagonism by centrally acting muscle relaxants

Some narcotic drugs have been reported to produce increases in muscle tone in rats. In our laboratory we have found that etonitazine produces a 'lead-pipe' rigidity of the trunk and limb musculature. The reported studies were conducted to characterize etonitazine-induced rigidity more fully, to compare the degree of rigidity with that produced by morphine, codeine and methadone, and to assess the sensitivity of this rigidity to centrally acting muscle relaxants. Of the 4 narcotics tested, etonitazine was far more potent than methadone or morphine for producing rigidity; codeine did not produce peak rigidity comparable to the other 3 narcotics. Etonitazine-induced rigidity occurs at a supraspinal level since the effect was prevented by spinal transsection. Etonitazine-induced rigidity was prevented by the narcotic antagonists cyclazocine, pentazocine and naloxone but not by the serotonin depletor, p-chlorophenylalanine. Etonitazine-induced rigidity was antagonized by centrally acting muscle relaxants, including diazepam, methocarbamol, carisoprodol and zoxazolamine; in agreement with their relative clinical muscle relaxant potencies, diazepam is the most potent antagonist of etonitazine-induced rigidity.