The effects of prenatal morphine on the responsiveness to morphine and amphetamine.

The effects of morphine administered to pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats on the schedule-controlled behavior of the offspring were examined. It was observed that both male and female adult rats exposed prenatally to morphine were tolerant to the disruptive effects of morphine on fixed-interval responding compared to age-matched controls. These morphine-treated rats, however, were neither tolerant nor supersensitive to the disruptive effects of the catecholaminergic agonist, amphetamine, and did not exhibit any alteration in their steady state levels of central monoamines. These observations are discussed in relation to the effects of prenatal morphine exposure on unconditioned behaviors.