Open AccessNitric Oxide Synthase Inhibitor Blocks Spinal Sensitization Induced by Formalin Injection into the Rat Paw
Author(s) -
Tatsuo Yamamoto,
Naohito Shimoyama,
Tadanobu Mizuguchi
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
anesthesia and analgesia/anesthesia and analgesia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.404
H-Index - 201
eISSN - 1526-7598
pISSN - 0003-2999
DOI - 10.1213/00000539-199311000-00003
Subject(s) - nociception , medicine , sensitization , spinal cord , nitric oxide synthase , nitric oxide , intrathecal , anesthesia , pharmacology , arginine , peripheral , receptor , biochemistry , immunology , chemistry , amino acid , psychiatry
This study evaluated the role of nitric oxide (NO) in spinal cord nociceptive transmission during peripheral inflammation evoked by formalin injection into the rat paw, using N omega-nitro-L-arginine (N-Arg), an NO synthase inhibitor. Male rats were prepared with intrathecal (IT) catheters. To quantify the formalin response, the instances of "flinching behavior" were counted at 5-min intervals for 60 min. IT N-Arg depressed the flinching behavior in a dose-dependent manner when N-Arg was administered 10 min before the formalin injection. This N-Arg effect was reversed with L-arginine but not D-arginine. We conclude that NO plays an important role in nociceptive transmission in the spinal cord during the formalin test.