Summary
The new method described in this study was based on consecutive repeated measurements of the resistance of flexor and extensor muscles of the hind foot of the rat to forced flexions and extensions of the foot. Locomotor movements of the rat were restrained with a metaplex box which had a slot for the hind limb. The control muscle tone measured by this method was constant for more than 2 h, and amounted to approx. 25 g for flexor muscles, and approx. 45 g for extensors. Morphine (2.5, 5, 10, 20 mg/kg) enhanced dose-dependently the resistance of flexor muscles up to approx. 45 g, 70 g, 100 g and 140 g, respectively, and the resistance of extensors of the paw up to approx. 100 g, 140 g, 180 g and 240 g, respectively. Haloperidol (5 and 10 mg/kg) enhanced dose-dependently the resistance of flexor muscles up to approx. 45 g and 70 g, respectively, and that of extensors of the foot up to approx. 75 g and 120 g, respectively. Morphine rigidity, measured as resistance of respective muscles to forced movements, was almost completely inhibited by a consecutive injection of 0.2 mg/kg of naloxone. The new method seems to have considerable advantages in comparison with electromyographical (EMG) or other kinds of mechanographical measurements of the muscle tone.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Anderson RJ (1985) Modification of reserpine induced rigidity by dopaminergic and alpha-adrenergic drugs. Acta Neurol Scand 72:584–589
Byck R (1975) Drugs and the treatment of psychiatric disorders. In: Goodman LS, Gilman A (eds) The pharmacological basis of therapeutics, 5th edn. MacMillan, New York, pp 152–200
De Ryck M, Teitelbaum P (1983) Morphine versus haloperidol catalepsy in the rat: an electromygraphic analysis of postural support mechanisms. Exp Neurol 79:54–76
Dickinson SL, Slater P (1982) Effect of lesioning dopamine, noradrenaline and 5-hydroxytryptamine pathways on tremorine-induced tremor and rigidity. Neuropharmacology 21:787–794
Dickinson SL, Longman DA, Slater P (1982) A method for measuring drug-induced changes in limb muscle tone in the rat. J Neurosci Methods 5:195–200
Hornykiewicz O (1975) Parkinsonism induced by dopaminergic antagonists. In: Calne DB, Chase TN, Barbeau A (eds) Advances in neurology, vol 9. Raven, New York, pp 155–164
Johnels B, Steg G, Ungerstedt U (1978) A method for mechanographical recording of muscle tone in the rat: the effect of some antiparkinsonian drugs on rigidity induced by reserpine. Brain Res 140:177–181
Ossowska K, Wardas J, Warchał D, Kolasiewicz W, Wolfarth S (1986) GABA mechanisms of ventromedial thalamic nucleus in morphine-induced muscle rigidity. Eur J Pharmacol 129: 245–251
Wand P, Kuschinsky K, Sontag K-H (1973) Morphine-induced muscular rigidity in rats. Eur J Pharmacol 24:189–193
Winkler M, Havemann U, Kuschinsky K (1982) Unilateral injection of morphine into the nucleus accumbens induces akinesia and catalepsy, but no spontaneous muscular rigidity in rats. Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Arch Pharmacol 318:143–147
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This study was supported by grant CPBP no 06.02.1.8
Send offprint requests to W. Kolasiewicz at the above address
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kolasiewiez, W., Baran, J. & Wolfarth, S. Mechanographic analysis of muscle rigidity after morphine and haloperidol: a new methodological approach. Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Arch Pharmacol 335, 449–453 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00165562
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00165562