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ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES TO ANALGESIA: BACLOFEN AS A MODEL COMPOUND
Author(s) -
CUTTING D.A.,
JORDAN C.C.
Publication year - 1975
Publication title -
british journal of pharmacology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.432
H-Index - 211
eISSN - 1476-5381
pISSN - 0007-1188
DOI - 10.1111/j.1476-5381.1975.tb06926.x
Subject(s) - baclofen , pharmacology , morphine , spinal cord , hot plate test , nociception , analgesic , medicine , anesthesia , mechanism of action , neurotransmission , muscle relaxant , chemistry , neuroscience , agonist , biology , in vitro , receptor , biochemistry , psychiatry
1 It is suggested that analgesia could be produced by drug action at the spinal level through (a) interference with neurotransmission at primary afferent terminals; (b) enhancement of the ‘gate control’ of the sensory input to the spinal cord mediated through descending spinal tracts; or (c) increased presynaptic inhibition of primary afferents by a direct action. 2 Baclofen (9.4–70.3 μmol/kg, i.p.), which may mimic spinal presynaptic inhibition, produced a dose‐dependent increase in the response times of mice in a hot‐plate test, but high doses also impaired motor function. 3 Morphine hydrochloride (5.3–40 μmol/kg, i.p.) increased the response time of mice in the hot‐plate test and had little effect on motor function. 4 Combination of baclofen (9.4 or 23.4 μmol/kg) with morphine (13.3 μmol/kg) produced greater increases in response time than either drug administered alone but with little concurrent effect on motor function. 5 The possibility that baclofen may have some analgesic action and a potentiating effect on other analgesics is discussed.