Lithium attenuates pain-related behavior in a rat model of neuropathic pain: possible involvement of opioid system.
Lithium is a major drug for bipolar disorder and mania. Recently, many studies have shown the neuroprotective effect of lithium in different models of neurodegenerative diseases. The present study was carried out to examine the effect of lithium in a rat model of neuropathic pain induced by partial sciatic nerve ligation and the possible role of opioid system in this effect. To do so, animals received acute injection of saline, lithium (5, 10 and 15 mg/kg,) and naloxone (1 mg/kg) or the combination of naloxone (1 mg/kg) with lithium (10 mg/kg) intraperitoneally on the testing days. Thermal hyperalgesia, mechanical and cold allodynia were measured on the days 3, 5, 7, 10 and 14 after surgery. Lithium decreased thermal hyperalgesia scores with dose of 5, 10 and 15 mg/kg and cold and mechanical allodynia scores with dose of 10 and 15 mg/kg, significantly. The opioid antagonist naloxone prevented the effect of lithium on thermal hyperalgesia and mechanical allodynia while it did not show any effect on the acetone-induced cold allodynia. Our results suggest that lithium can be considered as a therapeutic potential for the treatment of some aspects of neuropathic pain and that the opioid system may be involved in the lithium-induced attenuation of thermal hyperalgesia and mechanical allodynia.
Physiology Research Center, Department of Physiology & Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran.
Hamid R
HR
Banafshe
Azam
A
Mesdaghinia
Meysam Noorani
MN
Arani
Mehdi Honarkar
MH
Ramezani
Azhdar
A
Heydari
Gholam A
GA
Hamidi
D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D006930:Hyperalgesia / Q000517:prevention & control; D018021:Lithium Chloride / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D009270:Naloxone / Q000494:pharmacology; D009292:Narcotic Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D009437:Neuralgia / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D010147:Pain Measurement; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012584:Sciatic Nerve / Q000187:drug effects / Q000601:surgery
D009292:Narcotic Antagonists; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents; D009270:Naloxone; D018021:Lithium Chloride