title: The antinociceptive effects of branched-chain amino acids: evidence for their ability to potentiate morphine analgesia.
abstract: The effect of branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) on pain threshold was studied in rats. Nociception was induced by the hot-plate analgesia meter, a method measuring supraspinally organized pain responses. After a single intravenous injection of BCAA (320 mg/kg), the percent change in latency time to the pain response significantly increased by 19% in 60 min, and by 22% in 75 min (p < 0.005), as compared to an injection of an equal volume of a standard concentration of an amino acid solution or physiological saline. Subsequently, we studied the interaction of BCAA with opioid-type analgesia. In combination with intravenously injected morphine (3 mg/kg), BCAA significantly potentiated and prolonged the action of morphine using the hot-plate test. From 5 min after morphine injection, the latencies to a pain response were markedly higher with the combination of BCAA and morphine (+80% and +89% at 5 min after morphine injection, if BCAA was administered 45 or 60 min prior to morphine injection, respectively) when compared with the effect of morphine alone (+13% at 5 min; p < 0.005). BCAA demonstrated analgesic effects, which, in combination with morphine, potentiated and prolonged the antinociceptive action of morphine. BCAA may represent a new adjunct treatment modality for acute and chronic pain, and give us further insight into the mechanisms of pain control.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Turku University Hospital, Finland.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Manner
authors.forename: D P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Katz
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Askanazi
mesh_terms: D000597:Amino Acids, Branched-Chain / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000700:Analgesics / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D004357:Drug Synergism; D006358:Hot Temperature; D008297:Male; D009020:Morphine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017288:Pain Threshold / Q000187:drug effects; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
chemical_list: D000597:Amino Acids, Branched-Chain; D000700:Analgesics; D000701:Analgesics, Opioid; D009020:Morphine