Long-lasting hyperalgesia induced by fentanyl in rats: preventive effect of ketamine.
BACKGROUND
It has been reported that mu-opioid receptor activation leads to a sustained increase in glutamate synaptic effectiveness at the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor level, a system associated with central hypersensitivity to pain. One hypothesis is that postoperative pain may result partly from the activation of NMDA pain facilitatory processes induced by opiate treatment per se. The authors tested here the effectiveness of the opiate analgesic fentanyl for eliciting a delayed enhancement in pain sensitivity.


METHODS
The consequences of four bolus injections (every 15 min) of fentanyl (20-100 microg/kg per injection, subcutaneously) on immediate (for several hours) and long-term (for several days) sensitivity to nociceptive stimuli in the rat (paw-pressure vocalization test) were evaluated. The effects of the combination of the NMDA-receptor antagonist ketamine (10 mg/kg, subcutaneously) with fentanyl also were assessed.


RESULTS
Fentanyl administration exhibited a biphasic time-dependent effect: first, an early response (for 2-5 h) associated with a marked increase in nociceptive threshold (analgesia), and second, a later response associated with sustained lowering of the nociceptive threshold (5 days for the longest effect) below the basal value (30% of decrease for the maximal effect) indicative of hyperalgesia. The higher the fentanyl dose used, the more pronounced was the fentanyl-induced hyperalgesia. Ketamine pretreatment, which had no analgesic effect on its own, enhanced the earlier response (analgesia) and prevented the development of long-lasting hyperalgesia.


CONCLUSIONS
Fentanyl activates NMDA pain facilitatory processes, which oppose analgesia and lead to long-lasting enhancement in pain sensitivity.
Célèrier
E
E
Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) U 259, Bordeaux, France.
Rivat
C
C
Jun
Y
Y
Laulin
J P
JP
Larcher
A
A
Reynier
P
P
Simonnet
G
G
D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000633:toxicity*; D000818:Animals; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D018691:Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D005283:Fentanyl / Q000633:toxicity*; D006930:Hyperalgesia / Q000139:chemically induced*; D007649:Ketamine / Q000494:pharmacology; D008297:Male; D009619:Nociceptors / Q000187:drug effects; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000187:drug effects; D017288:Pain Threshold / Q000187:drug effects; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
D000701:Analgesics, Opioid; D018691:Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists; D007649:Ketamine; D005283:Fentanyl