BMC pharmacology & toxicology
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BMC Pharmacol Toxicol · Jul 2016
Anti-nociceptive and desensitizing effects of olvanil on capsaicin-induced thermal hyperalgesia in the rat.
Olvanil (NE 19550) is a non-pungent synthetic analogue of capsaicin, the natural pungent ingredient of capsicum which activates the transient receptor potential vanilloid type-1 (TRPV1) channel and was developed as a potential analgesic compound. Olvanil has potent anti-hyperalgesic effects in several experimental models of chronic pain. Here we report the inhibitory effects of olvanil on nociceptive processing using cultured dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons and compare the effects of capsaicin and olvanil on thermal nociceptive processing in vivo; potential contributions of the cannabinoid CB1 receptor to olvanil's anti-hyperalgesic effects were also investigated. ⋯ Olvanil is effective in reducing capsaicin-induced thermal hyperalgesia, probably via directly desensitizing TRPV1 channels in a CB1 receptor-independent fashion. The results presented clearly support the potential for olvanil in the development of new topical analgesic preparations for treating chronic pain conditions while avoiding the unwanted side effects of capsaicin treatments.