Ya. Kolesnikov et al., BLOCKADE OF TOLERANCE TO MORPHINE BUT NOT TO KAPPA-OPIOIDS BY A NITRIC-OXIDE SYNTHASE INHIBITOR, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United Statesof America, 90(11), 1993, pp. 5162-5166
The nitric oxide synthase inhibitor N(G)-nitro-L-arginine (NO2Arg) blo
cks morphine tolerance in mice. After implantation of morphine pellets
the analgesic response decreases from 100% on the first day to 0% on
the third. Coadministration of NO2Arg along with the pellets markedly
retards the development of tolerance; 60% of mice are analgesic after
3 days, and 50% of mice are analgesic after 5 days. In a daily injecti
on paradigm the analgesic response to morphine is reduced from 60% to
0% by 5 days. Concomitant administration of morphine along with NO2Arg
at doses of 2 mg/kg per day prevents tolerance for 4 weeks. A single
NO2Arg dose retards morphine tolerance for several days, and dosing ev
ery 4 days is almost as effective as daily NO2Arg. NO2Arg slowly rever
ses preexisting tolerance over 5 days despite the continued administra
tion of morphine along with NO2Arg. NO2Arg also reduces dependence and
reverses previously established dependence. NO2Arg does not prevent t
olerance to analgesia mediated by the kappa1 agonist -[2-(1-pyrrolindi
nyl)cyclohexyl]-benzene-acetamide (U50,488H) or the kappa3 agent nalox
one benzoylhydrazone, indicating a selective action of NO in the mecha
nisms of mu tolerance and dependence.