Effect of clonidine on the responsiveness of infant rats to maternal stimuli

Clonidine (0.1 mg/kg), an alpha 2-adrenoceptor agonist, stimulated ultrasonic callings in 10-day-old rats. Unlike normal isolated rat pups, the vocalizations of clonidine-treated rats appeared resilient to maternal cues. Thus, clonidine-induced vocalizations did not decrease during intraoral infusions with 10% sucrose, exposure to home cage bedding or tactile stimulation of the skin. Clonidine (0.05; 0.1; 0.2 mg/kg) also disrupted the attraction normally shown by infant rats to home cage odours in an olfactory place preference test. This effect by clonidine was not shared by raclopride (1-4 mg/kg), naltrexone (0.5-2.0 mg/kg) or propranolol (2.5-10.0 mg/kg). Clonidine-treated infants (0.05; 0.1; 0.2 mg/kg) also failed to apprehend and attach to the anaesthetized mother's nipple. The results raise the possibility that alpha 2-adrenoceptor activation blunts the infant's receptivity to maternal olfactory incentives and intensifies separation-induced responses.