European journal of pharmacology
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The inhibitory effects of the oral sulfonylurea, glibenclamide, on vasoconstrictor responses to the thromboxane A2 mimic, U46619, were investigated in the pulmonary and hindquarters vascular beds of the cat under constant flow conditions. When lobar arterial tone was at resting conditions (14 +/- 2 mm Hg), intralobar injections of U46619, prostaglandin F2alpha, prostaglandin D2, angiotensin II, norepinephrine, and BAY K 8644 caused dose-related increases in lobar arterial pressure without altering left atrial pressure. Following an intralobar infusion of glibenclamide (5 mg/kg), vasoconstrictor responses to U46619, prostaglandin F2alpha and prostaglandin D2 were significantly reduced, whereas vasoconstrictor responses to norepinephrine and angiotensin II were not altered and responses to BAY K 8644 were significantly enhanced. ⋯ Hindquarters vasodilator responses to levcromakalim, but not to nitric oxide, were decreased significantly following administration of glibenclamide. These data suggest that glibenclamide, in addition to inhibiting K+-ATP channels, has thromboxane A2 receptor blocking activity in the pulmonary vascular bed of the cat. These data also suggest that vasoconstrictor responses to U46619 may be mediated by different thromboxane A2 receptors with different binding affinities in the pulmonary and in the hindquarters vascular beds of the cat.
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The effects of pretreatment with a highly selective protein kinase C inhibitor, calphostin C, on the antinociception induced by the intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) administration of the mu-opioid receptor agonist [D-Ala2,NMePhe4,Gly-ol5]enkephalin (DAMGO) were studied in diabetic and non-diabetic mice. The antinociceptive potency of i.c.v. DAMGO in diabetic mice was lower than that in non-diabetic mice. ⋯ In non-diabetic mice, i.c.v. pretreatment with a high dose of calphostin C (10 pmol) for 60 and 120 min potentiated DAMGO-induced antinociception. These results indicate that protein kinase C may be involved in DAMGO-induced antinociception in mice. Furthermore, these results suggest that the attenuation of DAMGO-induced antinociception in diabetic mice may be due in part to increased protein kinase C activity.
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The formalin test, an experimental model of injury-induced central sensitisation, was used. The antinociceptive interaction between intrathecal morphine and clonidine was evaluated based on the inhibition of the phase 1 and 2 of the formalin response, induced by both drugs, given alone or in combinations with fixed dose ratios. ⋯ The combination ID50 was found to be significantly lower than the respective theoretical additive ID50 for both fixed dose ratios (1:3 and 1:10) in both phases of the formalin test. The similar total dose fraction of the additive ID50 in phase 1 and 2 indicates the same magnitude of synergy and may suggest that the mechanisms of the spinal clonidine-morphine synergy do not differ significantly between both phases of the formalin test.
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Comparative Study
Opiate receptors in the periaqueductal gray mediate analgesic effect of nitrous oxide in rats.
The site of action and the pathways which are activated by nitrous oxide (N2O) to produce an analgesic effect are not well defined. Experiments were designed to determine whether N2O produces analgesia by activating opiate receptors or alpha2-adrenoceptors in periaqueductal gray. The analgesic effect of N2O was determined using the tail flick response to noxious radiant heat in lightly anesthetized rats. ⋯ The increase in the tail flick latencies produced by N2O was reversed by bilateral microinjection into the ventrolateral part of periaqueductal gray with the opiate receptor antagonist naloxone 2.5 microg/0.5 microl, but not with the alpha2-adrenoceptors antagonist yohimbine 1.5 microg/0.5 microl. These results indicate that the N2O analgesic effect is mediated by activation of opiate receptors, but not alpha2-adrenoceptors, in the periaqueductal gray. Combined with the previous experiments that the N2O analgesic effect is reversed by intrathecal injection of an alpha2-adrenoceptor antagonist but not by an opiate receptor antagonist, it seems likely that N2O causes activation of the opiate receptors in the periaqueductal gray, which in turn activate the noradrenergic descending pathways to the spinal cord to produce the analgesic effect.
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Comparative Study
Effects of dihydropyridine Ca2+ channel blockers on the discriminative stimulus and the motor impairing effects of (+/-)-Bay K 8644.
Functional interactions between the dihydropyridine Ca2+ channel activator, (+/-)-Bay K 8644 (methyl-1,4-dihydro-2,6-dimethyl-3-nitro-4-(2-trifluoromethyphenyl )-pyridine-5-carboxylate), and several dihydropyridine L-type Ca2+ channel blockers were investigated on rotarod performance in mice and in rats trained to discriminate between (+/-)Bay K 8644 and saline. When administered alone, (+/-)-Bay K 8644 produced dose-dependent impairments of rotarod activity with an ED50 of 1.3 mg/kg. Pretreatment with nifedipine (10-30 mg/kg) produced dose-dependent rightward shifts of the (+/-)-Bay K 8644 dose-response curve. ⋯ Pretreatment with nicardipine (2.5 mg/kg) only partially antagonised the training dose of (+/-)-Bay K 8644 whereas nimodipine (0.6-10 mg/kg) did not affect the (+/-)-Bay K 8644 discriminative stimulus. The results of the present study show that the behavioural effects of the dihydropyridine Ca2+ channel activator are differentially modified by dihydropyridine L-type Ca2+ channel blockers. These results may suggest that dihydropyridine blockers possess different intrinsic activities or act at different binding sites.