The psychopharmacologic and prolactin response after large doses of naloxone in man

Karen M. Kumor, Charles A. Haertzen, Donald R. Jasinski, Rolley E. Johnson

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

13 Scopus citations

Abstract

Large doses of naloxone (150-300 mg), placebo, and morphine (15-30 mg) were given intramuscularly to human volunteers and compared using measures of subjective feeling states, physiological measures and discriminative features. Plasma prolactin responses after naloxone 210 mg and placebo were compared. The subjective measures and discriminative features of naloxone revealed that the drug is subtly psychoactive but the stimulus is vague and cannot be identified clearly as an opioid agonist or antagonist in nondependent opioid-using volunteers. The physiologic and prolactin responses closely resembled opiate agonist activity. We conclude that naloxone in this dose range may act as an opiate agonist in man.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)967-975
Number of pages9
JournalPharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior
Volume30
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - 1988

Keywords

  • Agonist-antagonist
  • Human
  • Naloxone
  • Opiates
  • Opioid
  • Prolactin
  • Psychopharmacology
  • Subjective effects
  • Withdrawal

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biochemistry
  • Behavioral Neuroscience
  • Pharmacology

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'The psychopharmacologic and prolactin response after large doses of naloxone in man'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this