Possible Interaction: Ethanol and Morphine

“ Morphine increased intake of solutions containing ethanol as compared to intake under placebo.”

“However, despite the fact that benzodiazepines possess high therapeutic index and are … safe, their use can be dangerous when: (1) co-administered with alcohol , (2) co-administered with …, antidepressants, neuroleptics or morphine like substances, (3) driving under their influence, (4) using … drugs of abuse or in drug-facilitated crimes.”

“Our results indicate that morphine treatment reduced the migration and recruitment of tumor-infiltrating leukocytes into Matrigel plugs and polyvinyl alcohol sponges containing conditioned media derived from long-term cultures of mouse Lewis lung carcinoma cells when compared with placebo.”

“The major reason is that, unlike other addictive drugs (eg, morphine , cocaine or nicotine) that have specific molecular targets, EtOH affects much wider neuronal functions.”

“In human embryonic kidney 293 cells expressing the MOPr, ethanol reduced the level of MOPr phosphorylation induced by morphine.”

“We conclude that acute exposure to ethanol enhances the effects of morphine by reversing the processes underlying morphine cellular tolerance.”

“Interestingly, we have observed that sub-threshold concentrations of ethanol alter cellular distributions of endogenously expressed morphine.”

“Reciprocal autocrine/paracrine modulatory effects of very low concentrations of morphine in concert with ethanol also suggest the potential for endogenous expression and action of homeopathic concentrations of ethanol within discrete cellular microdomains.”

“The acute administration of morphine , alcohol or dopamine results in a pronounced suppression of the convulsions produced by alcohol in mice.”

“The suppressive action of morphine on alcohol withdrawal in the mouse apparently is not a product of morphine intoxication, but rather to some other specific interaction between alcohol and morphine in the central nervous system.”

“The absorption of ethanol was slower in rats treated with morphine and the time taken to reach the end of the blood concentration curve was increased.”

“Interactions of both a pharmacodynamic and also dispositional type may occur between ethanol and either the short-acting exogenous opioids, such as heroin and morphine , or the long-acting exogenous opioid, methadone.”

“These results indicated that preference for morphine and morphine physical dependence formation were reduced when rats were chronically treated with ethanol during chronic morphine treatment, and that preference for ethanol was enhanced.”