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Updated: Aug 16, 2026

Rapid Determination of the Thermal Nociceptive Threshold in Diabetic Rats
Published on: May 17, 2012
Streptozotocin-induced diabetes produces a naltrexone-reversible lowering of self-stimulation threshold
1Millhauser Laboratories, Department of Psychiatry, New York University Medical Center, NY 10016.
Abstract:
Stimulation frequency thresholds for lateral hypothalamic self-stimulation were monitored for 3 weeks following the induction of diabetes with streptozotocin (STZ). In each of the 3 weeks following STZ treatment, thresholds of diabetic rats were significantly lower than their pre-STZ baseline while thresholds of control animals did not change. Naltrexone (5.0 mg/kg, s.c.) increased thresholds of diabetic rats while having no effect on thresholds of control rats. These results suggest that STZ-induced diabetes is associated with an opioid-mediated lowering of self-stimulation threshold. The possible relationship between this finding and similar findings obtained in food-restricted animals is discussed.
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