Pharmacologic management of cancer pain in rural Minnesota.

Use of analgesic medications for cancer pain was assessed in six Minnesota communities. In our survey, cancer patients were treated primarily by family practice physicians. Approximately 70% were given one or more analgesics; 84% received a nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug and 73% received an opioid.

Physician knowledge and attitudes about cancer pain management: a survey from the Minnesota cancer pain project.

The purposes of the study were to determine the knowledge and attitudes about cancer pain management (CPM) among practicing physicians in six Minnesota communities and to determine the physician-related barriers to optimal CPM. Eligible community physicians were surveyed by telephone. The study analyzed responses of 145 physicians (response rate, 87%).

Neonatal opiate withdrawal alters the reactivity of adult rats to the hot-plate.

Prenatal exposure of rats to 0.2 mg LAAM/kg/day but not to 0.05 mg LAAM/kg/day resulted in faster hot-plate escape latencies in 6 mo old offspring.

Postnatal abstinence or acute toxicity can account for morbidity in developmental studies with opiates.

The incidence of neonatal morbidity and mortality in rats exposed to opiates in utero is generally high. To determine the extent to which neonatal opioid intoxication and/or withdrawal contribute to this effect, addicted pups from dams treated chronically with the long-acting opioid levo-alpha-acetylmethadol (LAAM) and appropriate controls were injected within 12 h of birth with saline, an opioid agonist (LAAM and metabolites) or an antagonist (naloxone). The incidence of neonatal mortality for pups born to dams maintained on a high dose of LAAM was 52%.

Separation of hepatic N-demethylase-inducing and opioid dependence-producing doses of levo-alpha-acetylmethadol in the pregnant rat.

A 2.0 mg per kg oral dose of 1-alpha-acetylmethadol (LAAM) administered daily to female rats prior to mating and throughout pregnancy increased ethylmorphine N-demethylase activity in liver microsomes of the dams measured 24 h after parturition. This dose of LAAM decreased maternal weight gain during gestation and increased postnatal mortality.

Prenatal levo-alpha-acetylmethadol (LAAM) and/or naloxone: effects on brain chemistry and postweaning behavior.

Female rats were treated daily with water or 0.2 mg LAAM/kg (PO) beginning 3 weeks before mating and continuing until parturition, after which addicted neonates were allowed to withdraw spontaneously. Beginning on the 14th day of gestation half of the animals in each group were injected (SC) 4 and 2 hours earlier with naloxone (Nx, 1 or 5 mg/kg) and the others with saline.

Neonatal undernutrition alters responsiveness to morphine in mature rats: a possible source of epiphenomena in developmental drug studies.

We studied the effect of neonatal undernutrition and its attendant stresses on the behavior and thermoregulation of adult rats in the absence and presence of morphine. Undernutrition was accomplished by fostering half the pups in each litter to a nonpregnant, nonlactating female rat every other day for the first 6 days of life. As a control, the remaining pups were fostered to lactating rats.

Congenital behavioral effects in mature rats prenatally exposed to levo-alpha-acetylmethadol (LAAM).

Male and female rats exposed prenatally to LAAM (0.2 mg/kg maternal body weight per day, PO) or water were tested for congenital effects on their performance of various unconditioned and conditioned behaviors. No differences were found in neuromuscular development or in exploratory activity.

Cumulation of active metabolites of levo-alpha-acetylmethadol in the rat fetus and neonate.

Levo-alpha-acetylmethadol (LAAM, 0.2 or 2.0 mg/kg/day) was orally administered to female Sprague-Dawley rats for one month prior to and throughout pregnancy.

Outcome of pregnancy in rats chronically exposed to 1-alpha-acetylmethadol (LAAM).

Repeated oral administration of 0.2, 0.5 or 2.

Opiate withdrawal in utero increases neonatal morbidity in the rat.

Long-term oral administration of the long-acting opiate 1-alpha-acetylmethadol (LAAM) to female rats beginning on the day of conception interfered with the dams' ability to carry litters to term. When treatment was initiated 3 weeks prior to mating this effect was not observed. Daily administration of the opiate antagonist naloxone from day 14 of gestation through term, to precipitate withdrawal in utero, resulted in increased stillbirths, decreased pup weight and size, and weight loss 24 hours after birth.

A method for determining cumulative behavioral toxicity after chronic oral administration of l-alpha-acetylmethadol to female rats.

A behavioral method is described in which fixed-ratio 15 (FR 15) responding for food is measured before and after daily oral administration of l-alpha-acetylmethadol (LAAM) by schedule-induced polydipsia. We hypothesized that if the interval between doses of drug was too great, and the subjects experienced episodes of withdrawal between doses, this would be manifest as diminished responding before drug which improved following drug administration. On the other hand, if the doses of drug given were too high or spaced too closely, any decrement in responding seen prior to drug would worsen following drug administration.