Sci. Res., 1992; 20, 405406. Keywords: B-Adrenoceptors, antinociception, desipramine, penbutolol. Introduction: Antidepressants are widely used in the clinical.
Med. Sci. Res., 1992; 20, 405406
405
Involvement of beta-adrenoceptors in the antinociceptive effect of desipramine in mice Juan-Antonio Mico1, Denis Brochet2, Juan Casasl , Juan Gibert-Raholal and Pierre Simon3 tDepartamento de Neurociencias, Unidad de Neuropsicofarmacologia, Facultad de Medicina, Plaza de Falla, 11003 Cádiz, España, arul 2Départment de Pharmacologie, Faculté de Médecine Pitié-salpetriére,9l Bouleverd de I'Hopital, F-75634 Paris Cédex 13, France 3Present address: Centre de Reserche Sanofi, Montpellier, France
Keywords: B-Adrenoceptors, antinociception, desipramine, penbutolol.
Introduction: Antidepressants are widely used in the clinical management of pain [1]. However, the mechanisms by which they help to control pain remdin unknown. Although pain is commonly associated with dápression [2], the efficacy of antidepressants in relieving peiin may be due to an analgesic rather than an antidepressant effect [3]. In animals, many antidepressants exert antinoCiceptive effects [4, 5]. Antidepressants are known to act centrally in enhancing noradrenaline by reuptake inhibitlon [6]. Moreover, several lines of evidence indicate that adrenergic mechanism may exert a modulatory effect on responses to painful stimulation [7, 8]. Beta-adrenoceptors are invblved in depression and in the
of antidepressants. Their stimulation induces an antidepressant activity in humans [9], and their blockade antagonises the effect of antidepressants in mice [10]. These relationships prompted us to investigate the possible implication of beta-adrenoceptors in the antinociceptive action in mice of desipramine. This tricyclic antidepressant is a potent inhibitor of the presynaptic uptake of noradrenaline [6], and its analgesic prcrperties have been demonstrated in experimental pain [4, 5, 11]. effects
Materials and methods: Male Swiss NMRI mice (CERJ, F53940 Le Genest saint-Isle) weighing 24-28 gwere used. They
were housed in groups of 10 in plastic boxes (30 x 20 x 10 cm) for one week before the experiments, at a constant temperature of 2l + 1'C, with free access to food and water.
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