Comparisons between warm and cold water swim stress in mice

The following experiments evaluated the effects of warm- or cold-water swim stress on tail-flick latencies (TFL) in mice. To first determine the appropriate control group, the TFL's of dry-vs-dunked mice were compared. Dry mice had significantly shorter TFL's than dunked mice, implying that the dampness of the mouse's tail contributed to the increase in the TFL. Therefore, dunked mice were used as the relevant control for the swum mice. Cold water swimming (2 degrees C) produced a significant increase in the TFL; this was not blocked by the opiate antagonist naloxone (3 mg/kg sc) or potentiated by the enkephalinase inhibitor thiorphan (100 mg/kg sc). Warm water swimming (32 degrees C) up to 3 min produced an inconsistent effect on TFL's, implying that the effects were at the threshold of detectability. Naloxone attenuated and thiorphan modestly potentiated the effects of warm water swimming on TFL's. This suggests that warm water swim stress-induced increases in mouse TFL's may involve opioid pathways, whereas cold water swim stress-induced changes in mice TFL's appear not to be opioid mediated.