The Effect of Aerobic Exercise on Tendency to Consumption of Morphine in Male Rat

Several investigations have suggested that many factors affect the creation and perpetuation of morphine addiction such as exercise. Applying exercise with different lengths and types showed different effects on this addiction. This study aimed to assess the influence of four weeks of aerobic exercise on the desire to consume morphine in male rats.
This study was done on 24 male wistar rats divided into 4 equal groups of saline, morphine, saline-exercise and morphine-exercise. At first, the rats were trained to receive small pallets with pressing active lever in self-administration apparatus. Then, all animals were anaesthetized and the jugular vein was cannulated. After recovery, the animals were placed into the self-administration apparatus 2 hours a day for 11 days. The first 6-days, animals were food-restricted and the later 5 days, were without food restriction. The exercise groups ran on the treadmill for 4 weeks before surgery. Finally, the numbers of lever pressing were recorded and evaluated. After 11 days, withdrawal symptoms were measured.
Findings: The number of active lever pressing, and withdrawal symptoms were significantly difference among the groups; but there was no significant difference in number of passive lever pressing between the groups (P The results of this study showed that probably, aerobic exercise can prevent tendency to consumption of morphine and reduce withdrawal symptoms in rats. It is possible that exercise exerts the effect on morphine addiction via the dopamine system.