%A Dr. Mark B. Kristal
%A Alexis C. Thompson
%A Steve B. Heller
%A Dr. Barry R. Komisaruk
%J Physiology & Behavior
%T Placenta Ingestion Enhances Analgesia
Produced by Vaginal/Cervical
Stimulation in Rats
%X Ingestion of placenta has previously been shown to enhance opiate-mediated analgesia (measured as tail-flick latency) induced either by morphine injection or by footshock. The present study was designed to test whether placenta ingestion would enhance the partly opiate-mediated analgesia produced by vaginal/cervical stimulation. Nulliparous Sprague-Dawley rats were tested for analgesia, using tail-flick latency, during and after vaginal/cervical stimulation; the tests for vaginal/cervical stimulation-induced analgesia were administered both before and after the rats ate placenta or ground beef. Placenta ingestion, but not beef ingestion. significantly heightened vaginal/cervical stimulation-induced analgesia. A subsequent morphine injection provided evidence that, as in a previous report, placenta ingestion, but not beef ingestion, enhanced morphine-induced analgesia.
%N 6
%K Placenta, Pain, Opiates, Vaginal stimulation-produced analgesia, Tail-flick test, Afterbirth,
Analgesia, Parturition, Placentophagia, VSPA, Vaginal/cervical stimulation, POEF
%P 1017-1020
%V 36
%D 1986
%I Pergamon Press
%L cogprints6254

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