ABSTRACT
It has previously been shown that morphine can increase the frequency of micronucleated splenocytes when administered to mice, but not when cells are exposed to the opiate in vitro. Morphine treatment is also known to increase circulating levels of glucocorticosteroids, which have been reported to produce genetic damage in vivo and in vitro. In order to determine whether adrenal hormones might mediate the genotoxic effects of morphine, adrenalectomized and sham-operated mice were treated with morphine sulfate. In sham-operated animals administration of morphine produced a dose-related increase in the frequency of micronucleated cells, whereas adrenalectomy abolished the effect. When plasma from morphine-treated mice was used to supplement growth medium of untreated splenocytes, the frequency of micronucleated cells increased, an effect partially blocked by the steroid antagonist RU 486. The N-methylmorphine, which does not stimulate the release of corticosterone from adrenal glands, induced micronuclei formation in splenocytes, and administration of metyrapone, an inhibitor of corticosterone biosynthesis, blocked the morphine-induced increase in corticosterone secretion, but had no effect on the frequency of micronuclei formation. These results indicate that basal levels of glucocorticosteroids are required for induction of micronuclei by morphine in murine splenocytes, but activation of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis by morphine does not contribute to the observed response.