Opioid antagonists and the sexual satiation phenomenon

This study evaluates the effects of the IP injection of naloxone (0.3, 3 and 30 mg/kg) and naltrexone (0.2, 2 and 20 mg/kg) on the sexual satiation phenomenon. It was found that both antagonists exert a dose-based biphasic effect on the proportion of sexually exhausted rats displaying copulation. The intermediate doses of both opioid antagonists were more effective than the low and high doses in increasing the percentage of animals engaged in copulation. The analysis of the specific sexual behaviour parameters revealed that naloxone produces a slight inhibitory effect at the lowest dose, evidenced as an increase in the intromission number. The higher doses of this compound facilitated copulation reflected as a shortening of the ejaculation latency and the interintromission interval (III) and an increase in the copulatory rate. Naltrexone treatment had only facilitatory effects at the lower doses by reducing the III. The higher doses of naloxone (3 and 30 mg/kg) and the intermediate dose of naltrexone (2 mg/kg) decreased the spontaneous ambulatory behaviour of sexually satiated rats without impairing sexual behaviour execution. Data suggest a participation of the endogenous opioid systems in the sexual inhibition resulting from sexual exhaustion.