title: Pain Modulation and Autonomic Function: The Effect of Clonidine.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The α2-agonist clonidine is an analgesic agent, whose yet uncertain action may involve either increase in pain modulation efficiency, change in autonomic function, and/or decrease in anxiety level. The present study aimed to examine the effect of oral clonidine on pain perception in healthy subjects in order to reveal its mode of action.
  
  
  METHODS
  Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty healthy subjects.
  
  
  METHODS
  Subjects received either 0.15 mg oral clonidine or placebo. We measured pain parameters of heat pain thresholds, tonic heat stimulus, mechanical temporal summation, offset analgesia (OA) and conditioned pain modulation (CPM); autonomic parameters of deep breathing ratio and heart rate variability indices obtained before, during, and after tonic heat stimulus; and psychological parameters of anxiety and pain catastrophizing.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Clonidine decreased systolic blood pressure (P = 0.022) and heart rate (P = 0.004) and increased rMSSD (P = 0.020), though no effect was observed on pain perception, pain modulation, and psychological parameters. Autonomic changes were correlated with pain modulation capacity; for OA, the separate slope model was significant (P = 0.008); in the clonidine group, more efficient OA was associated with lower heart rate (r = 0.633, P = 0.005), unlike in the placebo group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The change in autonomic function that was related to the increase in pain modulation capacity, and the lack of change in anxiety, suggest a combined modulatory-autonomic mode of analgesic action for clonidine.
authors.affiliation: *The Laboratory of Clinical Neurophysiology, the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.
authors.forename: Hadas
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nahman-Averbuch
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pain Medicine, Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care Medicine, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Lior
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dayan
authors.affiliation: *The Laboratory of Clinical Neurophysiology, the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.
authors.forename: Elliot
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sprecher
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pain Medicine, Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care Medicine, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Uri
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Hochberg
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pain Medicine, Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care Medicine, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Silviu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Brill
authors.affiliation: *The Laboratory of Clinical Neurophysiology, the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.|Department of Neurology, Rambam Medical Center, Haifa, Israel.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yarnitsky
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Giris
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Jacob
keywords: Autonomic Function; Clonidine; Conditioned Pain Modulation; Offset Analgesia