EFFECTS OF METHADONE HYDROCHLORIDE ON GROWTH OF ORGANOTYPIC CEREBELLAR CULTURES PREPARED FROM METHADONE-TOLERANT AND CONTROL RATS

  • 1 January 1976
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 199  (2) , 368-374
Abstract
Male and female Sprague-Dawley rats were given dl-methadone (5 mg/kg) for at least 3 mo. and then mated. The drug was continued throughout pregnancy and after delivery. Newly born pups were divided into 2 groups; 1 group was tested for in vivo methadone tolerance, while the other group was used to prepare organotypic cerebellar cultures. Various amounts of dl-methadone were added to the media of half of these cerebellum cultures. The effect of the drug in the medium was assessed by measuring explant outgrowth. Similar experiments were carried out with control animals. Statistical analysis of the data obtained in the in vivo portion of the experiment indicated that the pups of methadone-treated mothers tolerated methadone better than those of untreated mothers. The culture experiments revealed that the addition of methadone to the medium reduced explant outgrowth size and this was a dose-related effect. There was significantly less outgrowth from explants prepared using pups of methadone-treated mothers as compared to the controls. There was no significant difference in the effect of methadone on the growth of cultures prepared from the methadone-tolerant and control animals.