title: The effects of thalidomide and minocycline on taxol-induced hyperalgesia in rats.
abstract: Chemotherapy-induced pain is the most common treatment-limiting complication encountered by cancer patients receiving taxane-, vinca alkaloid- or platin-based chemotherapy. Several lines of evidence indicate that activation of pro-inflammatory cascades involving the release of cytokines including tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin-1 beta (IL-1beta) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) as well as various growth factors are key events in the pathogenesis of many types of nerve-injury related pain. Similar mechanisms might also be involved in the etiology of chemotherapy-induced pain. Thalidomide and minocycline have profound immunomodulatory actions in addition to their originally intended pharmacological actions. These compounds were evaluated here for effects in preventing the development of taxol-induced mechanical and thermal hyperalgesia in rats. Thalidomide (50.0 mg/kg) reduced taxol-induced mechanical allodynia and hyperalgesia whereas minocycline (20.0 mg/kg) reduced taxol-induced mechanical hyperalgesia and allodynia as well as taxol-induced thermal hyperalgesia. These results suggest that immunomodulatory agents may provide a treatment option for the protection or reversal of chemotherapy-related pain.
authors.affiliation: The Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, The Division of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, The University of Texas-M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, 1400 Holcombe Unit 409, Houston, TX, 77030 USA.
authors.forename: Juan P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Cata
authors.forename: Han-Rong
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Weng
authors.forename: Patrick M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Dougherty
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects; D006930:Hyperalgesia / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000145:classification / Q000188:drug therapy*; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008124:Locomotion / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D008911:Minocycline / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017239:Paclitaxel; D010147:Pain Measurement; D017288:Pain Threshold / Q000187:drug effects; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000187:drug effects; D045442:Rotarod Performance Test / Q000379:methods; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013792:Thalidomide / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D013792:Thalidomide; D008911:Minocycline; D017239:Paclitaxel