Related Experiment Videos
Nimodipine reduction of naltrexone-precipitated locus coeruleus activation and abstinence behavior in
J H Krystal1, S Compere, E J Nestler
1VA-Yale Alcoholism Research Center, VA Medical Center, West Haven, CT 06516, USA.
Physiology & Behavior
|April 1, 1996
Abstract:
Single-unit recordings in anesthetized animals revealed that the L-type calcium channel antagonist, nimodipine (10 mg/kg), attenuated the activation of locus coeruleus neurons produced by naltrexone in opiate-dependent rats. Nimodipine also dose-dependently (1 mg/kg, 10 mg/kg, IP) inhibited the display of naloxone-precipitated withdrawal behaviors with a time course similar to that of nimodipine effects on the locus coeruleus. These data suggest that nimodipine may suppress opiate withdrawal via noradrenergic mechanisms.