Blockade of dopamine D1 receptors in male rats disrupts morphine reward in pain naïve but not in chronic pain states

The rewarding effect of opiates is mediated through dissociable neural systems in drug naïve and drug‐dependent states. Neuroadaptations associated with chronic drug use are similar to those produced by chronic pain, suggesting that opiate reward could also involve distinct mechanisms in chronic pain and pain‐naïve states. We tested this hypothesis by examining the effect of dopamine (DA) antagonism on morphine reward in a rat model of neuropathic pain.Neuropathic pain was induced in male Sprague‐Dawley rats through chronic constriction (CCI) of the sciatic nerve; reward was assessed in the conditioned place preference (CPP) paradigm in separate groups at early (4‐8 days post‐surgery) and late (11‐15 days post‐surgery) phases of neuropathic pain. Minimal effective doses of morphine that produced a CPP in early and late phases of neuropathic pain were 6 mg/kg and 2 mg/kg respectively. The DA D1 receptor antagonist, SCH23390, blocked a morphine CPP in sham, but not CCI, rats at a higher dose (0.5 mg/kg), but had no effect at a lower dose (0.1 mg/kg). The DA D2 receptor antagonist, eticlopride (0.1 and 0.5 mg/kg), had no effect on a morphine CPP in sham or CCI rats, either in early or late phases of neuropathic pain. In the CPP paradigm, morphine reward involves DA D1 mechanisms in pain‐naïve but not chronic pain states. This could reflect increased sensitivity to drug effects in pain versus no pain conditions and/or differential mediation of opiate reward in these two states. We tested the hypothesis that the neural mechanism of opiate reward are dissociable in pain‐naïve and chronic pain states. Using the chronic constriction injury (CCI) model of neuropathic pain, both CCI and sham rats displayed a CPP to morphine. The effect was blocked by dopamine D1 receptor antagonism but only in pain‐naïve rats, adding to evidence that chronic pain modifies brain reward circuits.