Morphine depresses the transmission of noxious messages in the spino(trigemino)-ponto-amygdaloid pathway

We had recently demonstrated that a subregion of the parabrachial area relays nociceptive information in the spino(trigemino)-ponto-amygdaloid pathway. The aim of the present study was to investigate, in halothane-anesthetized rats, the effect of i.v. administration of morphine on nociceptive specific neurons located in the parabrachial area with some cells being antidromically driven from the amygdala. Morphine induced a marked depression of responses elicited by noxious thermal stimuli (waterbath, 50°C) dose relatedly (1, 3, 9 mg/kg) and naloxone reversibly, with an ED 50 = 1.8 mg/kg. This effect of morphine probably not only reflects the direct action of this drug at the spinal level, but could also involve a direct action at the parabrachial level. These results could account at least in part for the effect of morphine on the emotional-affective aspects of pain.