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  • Title: Separation stress, litter size, and the rewarding effects of low-dose morphine in the dams of maternally separated rats.
    Author: Roma PG, Huntsberry ME, Riley AL.
    Journal: Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry; 2007 Mar 30; 31(2):429-33. PubMed ID: 17182163.
    Abstract:
    Potential differences in sensitivity to the rewarding effects of morphine as a function of litter separation stress were assessed in post-weaning rat dams. During the first two weeks postnatal, Sprague-Dawley rat litters were subjected to daily 15- or 180-min sessions of dam-pup separation while control litters only experienced twice-weekly animal facility care. One week after weaning, the dams (n=7 per group) underwent a fully unbiased conditioned place preference (CPP) procedure to 1 mg/kg subcutaneous morphine. CPP responses after each conditioning cycle were recorded. Rates of acquisition and asymptotic levels of CPP were comparable in all groups; however, an inverse relationship between litter size and magnitude of morphine CPP was revealed. Although these initial data indicate no differential sensitivity to the rewarding effects of low-dose morphine produced by the stress of litter separation, this assessment of litter size and drug-induced place conditioning in post-weaning litter-separated dams is the first of its kind. Potential effects of other doses, drugs of abuse and post-partum manipulations remain to be evaluated within this emerging etiological model.
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