ISSN:
1435-1463
Keywords:
Nicotine enantiomers
;
pain
;
spinal analgesia
;
rat
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Medicine
Notes:
Summary Spinalized rats received an intrathecal injection of either (−)-nicotine or (+)-nicotine in order to study the stereoselectivity of antinociception. Pain threshold was measured using the tail-flick test. Both stereoisomers had antinociceptive effects, but (−)-nicotine was up to 970 times more potent, depending on test conditions. The antinociceptive action of (−)-nicotine was antagonized by mecamylamine and yohimbine but not by naloxone and atropine. The findings show that spinal mechanisms are highly stereoselective toward nicotine, and suggest that primarily nicotinergic andalpha-adrenergic receptors are involved in its central antinociceptive effects.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF01245120
