Microinjection of an adenosine A1 agonist into the medial pontine reticular formation increases tail flick latency to thermal stimulation.
BACKGROUND
Both pain and the pharmacologic management of pain can cause the undesirable effect of sleep disruption. One goal of basic and clinical neuroscience is to facilitate rational drug development by identifying the brain regions and neurochemical modulators of sleep and pain. Adenosine is thought to be an endogenous sleep promoting substance and adenosinergic compounds can contribute to pain management. In the pontine brain stem adenosine promotes sleep but the effects of pontine adenosine on pain have not been studied. This study tested the hypothesis that an adenosine agonist would cause antinociception when microinjected into pontine reticular formation regions that regulate sleep.


METHODS
The tail flick latency (TFL) test quantified the time in seconds for an animal to move its tail away from a thermal stimulus created by a beam of light. TFL measures were used to evaluate the antinociceptive effects of the adenosine A1 receptor agonist N6-p-sulfophenyladenosine (SPA). Pontine microinjection of SPA (0.1 microg/0.25 microl, 0.88 mm) was followed by TFL measures as a function of time after drug delivery and across the sleep-wake cycle.


RESULTS
Compared with saline (control), pontine administration of the adenosine agonist significantly increased latency to tail withdrawal (P < 0.0001). The increase in antinociceptive behavior evoked by the adenosine agonist SPA was blocked by pretreatment with the adenosine A1 receptor antagonist 8-cyclopentyl-1, 3-dipropylxanthine (DPCPX, 0.75 ng/0.25 microl, 10 microm).


CONCLUSIONS
These preclinical data encourage additional research on the cellular mechanisms by which adenosine in the pontine reticular formation contributes to the supraspinal modulation of pain.
Tanase
Diana
D
Department of Anesthesiology, University of Michigan, 1150 West Medical Center Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-0615, USA.
Baghdoyan
Helen A
HA
Lydic
Ralph
R
D000700:Analgesics / Q000819:agonists*; D000818:Animals; D002415:Cats; D006358:Hot Temperature / Q000009:adverse effects; D008297:Male; D008845:Microinjections; D010146:Pain / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D058906:Purinergic P1 Receptor Agonists; D012890:Sleep / Q000187:drug effects*; D013623:Tail; D014970:Xanthines / Q000494:pharmacology*
D000700:Analgesics; D058906:Purinergic P1 Receptor Agonists; D014970:Xanthines; C051360:1,3-dipropyl-8-cyclopentylxanthine