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Pharmacological Studies of Grooming and Scratching Behavior Elicited by Spinal Substance P and Excitatory Amino Acids a
Author(s) -
WILCOX GEORGE L.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1988.tb38608.x
Subject(s) - george (robot) , scratching , citation , psychology , library science , medicine , art , management , computer science , art history , economics
Compounds that produce depolarization of nociceptive neurons in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord also elicit a rather specific kind of caudally directed biting, licking, and/or scratching behavior when they are injected intrathecally in mice. We sought to use this elicited grooming behavior as a test for compounds that might inhibit the neurons excited by the excitatory agents. All three neurokinins--substance P, neurokinin A (substance K), neurokinin B (neuromedin K)--and excitatory amino acids active at N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) or quisqualate receptors produce similar behaviors, which last for 1 minute after i.t. injection. Our data indicate that mu opioid agonists or alpha adrenergic agonists block both neurokinin-elicited behavior and EAA-elicited behavior; delta opioid agonists block only neurokinin-elicited behavior; and PCP/sigma "opioid" agonists block only EAA-elicited behavior. Somatostatin and serotonin produce qualitatively different behaviors by themselves and, when administered with neurokinins, partially block neurokinin-elicited behavior.