Amniotic-fluid ingestion enhances morphine analgesia during morphine tolerance and withdrawal in rats.

Ingestion of placenta and amniotic fluid has been shown to enhance opioid-mediated analgesia in rats produced by morphine injection, footshock, vaginal/cervical stimulation, and during late pregnancy. The present study was designed to investigate the effects of amniotic fluid ingestion on the characteristics of morphine dependency and withdrawal. Tail-flick latencies in Long-Evans rats were determined before and after repeated daily injections of morphine sulfate. It was found that ingestion of amniotic fluid after establishment of the morphine dependency, coupled with an injection of an otherwise ineffective dose of morphine, enhanced analgesia in morphine-dependent rats, and reversed hyperalgesia seen during withdrawal from morphine dependency.