PubMed · 10690714
The source did not provide an abstract. Follow the original record for more information.
Explore connections, maps & timelines
D M Long. 2000. Conquering pain.. https://doi.org/10.1097/00006123-200002000-00001
Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.
KEEP EXPLORING
We investigated the role of protein kinase C (PKC) in cell mu-opioid receptor (MOR) internalization and MOR-mediated acute tolerance in vivo. When Chinese hamster ovary cells expressing MOR were exposed to [D-Ala(2),MePhe(4),Gly-ol(5)]-enkephalin (DAMGO), receptor internalization was observed at 30 min. Incubation with morphine failed to induce receptor internalization. When calphostin C, a PKC inhibitor, was added, receptor internalization was observed as early as 10 min after morphine stimulation. The MOR internalization induced by DAMGO or morphine in the presence of calphostin C was dynamin dependent, because it was abolished 2 d after pretreatment with recombinant adenovirus to express a dominant interfering dynamin mutant (K44A/dynamin adenovirus). On the other hand, in a peripheral nociception test in mice, the nociceptive flexor response after intraplantar injection (i.pl.) of bradykinin was markedly inhibited by DAMGO (i.pl.). DAMGO analgesia was not affected by 2 hr prior injection (i.pl.) of DAMGO. Marked acute tolerance was observed after pretreatment with dynamin antisense oligodeoxynucleotide or K44A/dynamin adenovirus. The DAMGO-induced acute tolerance under such pretreatments was inhibited by calphostin C. Together, these findings suggest that PKC desensitizes MOR or has a role in the development of acute tolerance through MOR by inhibiting internalization mechanisms as a resensitization process.
The ventral tegmental area (VTA) has been traditionally related with the control of motor responses. However, some studies show that this area is also involved in the processing of nociceptive information. It has been reported that this nucleus participates in the dissociative analgesia phenomenon. In the few works where electrical stimulation and lesion of the VTA have been performed, evaluated with persistent or chronic pain related behaviors, contradictory results have been obtained. Thus, a more detailed analysis of the role of the VTA in persistent pain is needed. Two series of experiments were performed: lesions of this nucleus were done with radiofrequency, (bilaterally at two points per side using a temperature range from 50 to 80 degrees C), and the VTA was electrically stimulated (10 min daily over 5 days, 2 ms rectangular pulses at 100 Hz during 1 s every 5 s) using two different schemes:10 min before the induction of the nociceptive stimulus and 90 min after the induction of the nociceptive stimulus. The latter allowed us to distinguish if the VTA electrical stimulation had a distinctive antinociceptive effect when applied before or after the induction of the nociceptive stimulus on a persistent pain related behavioral response in the rat, the self injury behavior (SIB). Our results showed that VTA lesions enhanced the occurrence of SIB; while activation of this same nucleus by electrical stimulation after the nociceptive stimulus, but not before, facilitates the analgesic process, expressed as a 1 day delay in SIB onset. These results indicate that the VTA is a brain structure that plays a key role in the processing and modulation of persistent pain information. Data are discussed in terms of the relationship of the VTA with the affective component of pain.
The neural mechanisms involved in post-ictal analgesia remain to be elucidated. Pentylenetetrazol (PTZ) is used experimentally to induce seizure in animal subjects. This non-competitive antagonist blocks GABA-mediated Cl(-) flux. The aim of this work is to study the neurochemical basis of the antinociception induced by convulsions elicited by peripheral administration of PTZ (64 mg/kg). The analgesia was measured by the tail-flick test, in eight rats per group. Convulsions were followed by significant increase in the tail-flick latencies (TFL), at least for 30 min of the post-ictal period. Peripheral administration of naloxone (5 mg/kg and 10 mg/kg), atropine (1 mg/kg and 5 mg/kg), methysergide (1 mg/kg and 5 mg/kg) and ketanserine (1 mg/kg and 2 mg/kg) caused a significant decrease in the TFL in seizing animals, as compared to controls. However, while naloxone antagonized analgesia 15 and 25 min post convulsions, the other drugs caused a blockade of the post-ictal analgesia in a relatively greater period of time. These results indicate that endogenous opioids, serotonin and acetylcholine may be involved in post-ictal analgesia.