That sex differences in the potency and effectiveness of opioids increased with decreases in the opioid's relative efficacy and with increases in the nociceptive stimulus intensity suggests that the relative efficacy of mu opioids as antinociceptive agents is greater in male than female rats.

These data indicate that kappa opioids were generally more potent and effective as antinociceptive agents in males than females. Similar to data obtained with micro opioids, the magnitude of these sex differences was generally larger with the less effective kappa opioids and determined, in part, by rat strain and nociceptive stimulus intensity.