title: Pain-reducing properties of sucrose in human newborns.
abstract: To assess the characteristics of sucrose as a pain-reducing substance, crying in 72 newborn humans during and after blood collection via heel prick was determined. In the first study infants drank 2 ml of water or 2 ml of a 0.17-0.34- or 0.51-M sucrose solution 1 min prior to blood collection. In the second experiment, a delay of 30, 60, 90, 120 or 240 s was imposed between sucrose intake and the initiation of blood collection. The dose-response function for concentration was flat. The most effective time delay was 120 s. The effectiveness of the 2-min interval accords with previous findings of endogenous opioid release caused by sucrose taste. The flat dose-response function extends findings in rats and humans that the calming and pain-reducing effects of sucrose are not influenced by either concentration or volume, suggesting that the transduction from gustatory afferent to opioid-mediated efferent is of an on-off nature and not graded.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-7601, USA.
authors.forename: E M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Blass
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shah
mesh_terms: D018712:Analgesics, Non-Narcotic / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D001800:Blood Specimen Collection; D003448:Crying / Q000502:physiology; D004723:Endorphins / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D009619:Nociceptors / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D010146:Pain / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D010147:Pain Measurement; D051381:Rats; D013395:Sucrose / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D018712:Analgesics, Non-Narcotic; D004723:Endorphins; D013395:Sucrose