title: The analgesic effects of R(+)-WIN 55,212-2 mesylate, a high affinity cannabinoid agonist, in a rat model of neuropathic pain.
abstract: The effects of a high affinity cannabinoid receptor agonist were evaluated in rats subjected to chronic constriction injury of the sciatic nerve (CCI) or a sham operation. Intraperitoneal (i.p.) injections of the active, but not the inactive enantiomer, alleviated the pain behavior exhibited by CCI animals in a dose dependent manner. Moreover, at doses ranging from 0.43 to 4.3 mg/kg effects on sensitivity to a heat stimulus were observed neither in the paw contralateral to the sciatic ligation, nor in animals subjected to sham surgery. Animals subjected to CCI and treated with 4.3 mg/kg exhibited hypoalgesia in the paw ipsilateral to the ligated sciatic, i.e. heat hypoalgesia was completely reversed. The hypoalgesia is presumed to be the results of unmasking of a sensory deficit reflecting the known loss of C and A delta with CCI. Although side effects were present in some CCI animals subjected to the high dose (4.3 mg/kg), a moderate dose (2.14 mg/kg) completely alleviated the thermal and mechanical hyperalgesia, and mechanical allodynia without side effects. In addition to identifying a potential drug treatment for painful neuropathy, this study suggests that changes in cannabinoid receptors occurs in nerve injured animals.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Neuroscience Branch, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Herzberg
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Eliav
authors.forename: G J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Bennett
authors.forename: I J
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Kopin
mesh_terms: D018712:Analgesics, Non-Narcotic / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D048588:Benzoxazines; D002186:Cannabinoids / Q000819:agonists* / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006930:Hyperalgesia / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology; D007274:Injections, Intraperitoneal; D008297:Male; D009025:Morpholines / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009281:Naphthalenes / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010146:Pain / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology; D010523:Peripheral Nervous System Diseases / Q000150:complications*; D010880:Piperidines / Q000494:pharmacology; D011720:Pyrazoles / Q000494:pharmacology; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D043882:Receptors, Cannabinoid; D011955:Receptors, Drug / Q000819:agonists / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D000077285:Rimonabant
chemical_list: D018712:Analgesics, Non-Narcotic; D048588:Benzoxazines; D002186:Cannabinoids; D009025:Morpholines; D009281:Naphthalenes; D010880:Piperidines; D011720:Pyrazoles; D043882:Receptors, Cannabinoid; D011955:Receptors, Drug; C070417:(3R)-((2,3-dihydro-5-methyl-3-((4-morpholinyl)methyl)pyrrolo-(1,2,3-de)-1,4-benzoxazin-6-yl)(1-naphthalenyl))methanone; D000077285:Rimonabant