European journal of pharmacology
-
Peripheral receptors may contribute to the effects of systemically administered centrally available analgesics. In the present study, we analysed the effect of local peripheral injection of the nociceptin/orphanin FQ peptide (NOP) receptor agonist Ro65-6570 and compared it to the µ-opioid peptide (MOP) receptor agonist morphine in streptozotocin-induced diabetic polyneuropathy in rats. Ro65-6570 and morphine were injected intraplantarly into the hind paw of diabetic rats, and mechanical withdrawal thresholds were determined in both paws (ipsi- and contralateral to the injection site). ⋯ Both compounds did not induce overt confounding side effects across the tested dose range. The NOP receptor antagonist J-113397 and the MOP receptor antagonist naloxone, intraplantarly co-administered with the respective agonists, selectively and completely prevented the antihyperalgesic action of the respective NOP and MOP receptor agonist. These results indicate that the activation of peripheral NOP and MOP receptors by Ro65-6570 and morphine, respectively, mediated antihyperalgesic effects in rats with diabetic polyneuropathy.
-
Patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) can have recurrent episodes of vaso-occlusive crises, which are associated with severe pain. While opioids are the mainstay of analgesic therapy, in some patients, increasing opioid use results in continued and increasing pain. Many believe that this phenomenon results from opioid-induced tolerance or hyperalgesia or that SCD pain involves non-opioid-responsive mechanisms. ⋯ As expected, dexmedetomidine had a sedative effect in sickle and control mice as it decreased wakefulness scores compared with vehicle (all P<0.001). Interestingly, the effects of dexmedetomidine on hot plate latency and wakefulness scores were different in sickle and control mice, i.e., dexmedetomidine-related increases in hotplate latency and decreases in wakefulness scores were significantly smaller in Townes sickle compared to control mice. In conclusion, these findings of beneficial effects of dexmedetomidine on the nociception phenotype in SCD mice might support the conduct of studies of dexmedetomidine in SCD patients.