Morphine effects on activity and pain reactivity of developing mice with or without late prenatal oxazepam exposure

Locomotor activity in a Varimex apparatus, hot-plate responding, and morphine effects (1 and 10 mg/kg IP) were assessed in 14-, 21-, 28-, and 70-day old mice. The development of hot-plate responding consisted mainly of a progressive increase of latencies and a parallel reduction of sensitivity to morphine. Morphine depressed activity at 14 days at the lower dose, had no effect at 21 days, and produced an adult-like hyperactivity at 28 days (10 mg/kg). Prenatal oxazepam (15 mg/kg, given per os twice daily on days 12-16 of pregnancy) did not influence hot-plate responding and morphine analgesia at any of the test ages. By contrast, the data on activity, besides replicating the response reduction at 14 days observed previously in an open-field test (Alleva et al. 1985), showed a delayed appearance of morphine hyperactivity in oxazepam mice.