Dexamethasone and stress-induced analgesia.
Analgesia induced in rats by cold-water swim stress and measured by the tail-flick and hot-plate methods was significantly antagonized after IP pretreatment for 3 days with 8 mg/kg dexamethasone. The analgesia developed by the cold-water swim stressor was also attenuated by 1 mg/kg naloxone. These results suggest that the corticosteroids may have a role in modulating stress-induced analgesia and that the adrenal-pituitary axis modulates the endogenous opiate system. These conclusions are based on recent reports that indicate the release of the opiate-like peptide beta-endorphin and adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) from the pituitary are increased by acute stress and inhibited by administration of the synthetic glucocorticoid dexamethasone.
D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects; D003080:Cold Temperature; D003907:Dexamethasone / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009270:Naloxone / Q000494:pharmacology; D010146:Pain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000187:drug effects; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013550:Swimming
D009270:Naloxone; D003907:Dexamethasone