title: Influence of flupirtine, a novel nonopioid analgesic agent on somatosensory evoked potentials in rats.
abstract: The effect of flupirtine, a novel nonopioid analgesic, on somatosensory evoked potentials (SEP) was investigated in anesthetized rats. Primary somatosensory potentials were evoked in the cerebral cortex by stimulation of the skin of the whiskery part of the face. Flupirtine injected i.p. dose-dependently prolonged the latency and reduced the amplitude of SEP with ID50-values of 5.4 mg/kg (2.6-9.3 mg/kg) and 7.9 mg/kg (3.9-13.8 mg/kg), respectively. This effect of flupirtine (10 mg/kg, i.p.) on the latency and the amplitude of SEP, did not change when naloxone (1 mg/kg, i.p.) was given before flupirtine. The results indicate that the analgesic flupirtine decreases the primary somatosensory evoked potential by diminishing the excitability of cortical neurons. Opioid mechanisms are not involved.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Szent-Györgyi Medical University, Szedged, Hungary.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Nagymajtenyi
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Nickel
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Desi
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Szelenyi
mesh_terms: D000631:Aminopyridines / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000700:Analgesics / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D005073:Evoked Potentials, Somatosensory / Q000187:drug effects*; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012016:Reference Values; D012867:Skin / Q000294:innervation; D013997:Time Factors; D014738:Vibrissae / Q000294:innervation
chemical_list: D000631:Aminopyridines; D000700:Analgesics; C034161:flupirtine