Mice that have been given morphine are very likely to develop blood poisoning because bacteria that normally reside in the intestine typically respond to morphine by migrating into the bloodstream. However, when mice are given both morphine and the new drug naltrexone, blood poisoning is much less frequent, although it does still occur. These results provide support for researchers' prediction that naltrexone will turn out to be toxic to certain types of bacteria.
If it were discovered to be true that naltrexone inhibits morphine from triggering the migration of intestinal bacteria into the bloodstream, it would most seriously weaken the support for the researchers' prediction.