Differential glycemic effects of morphine in diabetic and normal mice

C57BL/6J ob/ob mice, C57BL/6J+/? lean mice and A/J mice were given injections of 10 mg/kg of morphine or an equal volume of saline, and then blood was sampled by retroorbital sinus puncture. In addition, animals from each strain were exposed to a brief experimental stress ten minutes after the administration of morphine or saline. While morphine produced significant increases in serum glucose in albino mice, morphine lowered blood insulin in both C57BL/6J ob/ob and C57BL/6J+/? mice. Morphine significantly lowered blood insulin in A/J mice, but effects in C57BL/6J mice were not significant. In contrast, morphine attenuated blood glucose and insulin during stress in C57BL/6J ob/ob but did not significantly affect either glucose or insulin during stress in lean C57BL/6J or A/J mice. These results are interpreted in the light of other data suggesting that endogenous opiates modulate the effects of sympathetic nervous system activity in type II diabetes.