Dissociation of analgesic and rewarding effects of endomorphin-1 in rats

The μ-receptor is the primary mediator of the effects of morphine and the endogenous opiates, endomorphin-1 and endomorphin-2. Here we demonstrate a dissociation of the analgesic and rewarding effects of endomorphin-1 in rats. Tail-flick results revealed that endomorphin-1 produced significant analgesic effects within 10-min after injection. However, it failed to show reward properties in the standard 45- min conditioned place preference (CPP) paradigm or in an abbreviated 10-min pairing which paralleled the time frame of the tail-flick findings. Morphine induced both analgesia and reward. Endomorphin-1 therefore is the first mu opiate shown to produce potent analgesia in the absence of reward behavior, and thus may have significant clinical potential.