Motility response of rats to chronic constant-dose treatment with narcotics

The changes in effects on motor activity of rats upon repeated (48 day) dosing with four narcotic analgesics were determined. The following were administered IP once daily in a.m.: morphine sulfate (MOR), 20 mg/kg: dl-methadone HCl (MET), 5 mg/kg: meperidine HCl (MEP), 10 mg/kg; and pentazocine lactate (PEN), 20 mg/kg. Motility was measured in photocell actometers every 4 days for 6 hr after dosing. Activity was elevated after the initial dose as follows: for MOR at hours 3-5, for MET at hours 2-5, for MEP and PEN at hours 2-3. Time of peak response showed no systematic change over days. For all 4 drugs there occurred, upon repeated dosing, a considerable increase in motility over the initial acute response. For MOR the greatest increment occurred between days 12 and 16, but regression analysis showed a strong linear trend of increasing activity from day 1 through day 48. For MET and MEP, activity rose considerably between days 4 and 12 to a maximum, after which the activity trended downward for MET, but showed no continuing fall or climb for MEP. For PEN the greatest increases were from days 4 to 8 and 44 to 48, with an intervening period of relative stability. These results seem to be more readily explainable in terms of increasing sensitivity to the motor excitatory actions of these agents than merely by a development of tolerance to motor-inhibitory actions.