Reversal of morphine-induced respiratory depression with the µ 1 -opioid receptor antagonist naloxonazine engenders excitation and instability of breathing

2025/07/01 by Paulina M. Getsy, Walter May, Fraser Henderson +4

paper · doi:10.1152/ajplung.00045.2025

Abstract

This study shows that the systemic injection of morphine elicits a pronounced overshoot in ventilation in freely-moving Sprague Dawley rats pretreated with the centrally-acting selective µ 1 -opioid receptor antagonist, naloxonazine, but not with the centrally-acting δ 1,2 -opioid receptor antagonist, naltrindole. This suggests that morphine can recruit a non-µ 1 -opioid receptor system that promotes breathing.

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