scholarly journals Inhibition of Fast Nerve Conduction Produced by Analgesics and Analgesic Adjuvants—Possible Involvement in Pain Alleviation

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 62
Author(s):  
Eiichi Kumamoto

Nociceptive information is transmitted from the periphery to the cerebral cortex mainly by action potential (AP) conduction in nerve fibers and chemical transmission at synapses. Although this nociceptive transmission is largely inhibited at synapses by analgesics and their adjuvants, it is possible that the antinociceptive drugs inhibit nerve AP conduction, contributing to their antinociceptive effects. Many of the drugs are reported to inhibit the nerve conduction of AP and voltage-gated Na+ and K+ channels involved in its production. Compound action potential (CAP) is a useful measure to know whether drugs act on nerve AP conduction. Clinically-used analgesics and analgesic adjuvants (opioids, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, α2-adrenoceptor agonists, antiepileptics, antidepressants and local anesthetics) were found to inhibit fast-conducting CAPs recorded from the frog sciatic nerve by using the air-gap method. Similar actions were produced by antinociceptive plant-derived chemicals. Their inhibitory actions depended on the concentrations and chemical structures of the drugs. This review article will mention the inhibitory actions of the antinociceptive compounds on CAPs in frog and mammalian peripheral (particularly, sciatic) nerves and on voltage-gated Na+ and K+ channels involved in AP production. Nerve AP conduction inhibition produced by analgesics and analgesic adjuvants is suggested to contribute to at least a part of their antinociceptive effects.

2014 ◽  
Vol 112 (5) ◽  
pp. 1025-1039 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jérôme Bourien ◽  
Yong Tang ◽  
Charlène Batrel ◽  
Antoine Huet ◽  
Marc Lenoir ◽  
...  

Sound-evoked compound action potential (CAP), which captures the synchronous activation of the auditory nerve fibers (ANFs), is commonly used to probe deafness in experimental and clinical settings. All ANFs are believed to contribute to CAP threshold and amplitude: low sound pressure levels activate the high-spontaneous rate (SR) fibers, and increasing levels gradually recruit medium- and then low-SR fibers. In this study, we quantitatively analyze the contribution of the ANFs to CAP 6 days after 30-min infusion of ouabain into the round window niche. Anatomic examination showed a progressive ablation of ANFs following increasing concentration of ouabain. CAP amplitude and threshold plotted against loss of ANFs revealed three ANF pools: 1) a highly ouabain-sensitive pool, which does not participate in either CAP threshold or amplitude, 2) a less sensitive pool, which only encoded CAP amplitude, and 3) a ouabain-resistant pool, required for CAP threshold and amplitude. Remarkably, distribution of the three pools was similar to the SR-based ANF distribution (low-, medium-, and high-SR fibers), suggesting that the low-SR fiber loss leaves the CAP unaffected. Single-unit recordings from the auditory nerve confirmed this hypothesis and further showed that it is due to the delayed and broad first spike latency distribution of low-SR fibers. In addition to unraveling the neural mechanisms that encode CAP, our computational simulation of an assembly of guinea pig ANFs generalizes and extends our experimental findings to different species of mammals. Altogether, our data demonstrate that substantial ANF loss can coexist with normal hearing threshold and even unchanged CAP amplitude.


2004 ◽  
Vol 114 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
NIZAMETTIN DALKILIC ◽  
HULAGU BARISKANER ◽  
NECDET DOGAN ◽  
ILHAMI DEMIREL ◽  
BARKIN ILHAN

1998 ◽  
Vol 201 (18) ◽  
pp. 2625-2636
Author(s):  
C Legros ◽  
MF Martin-Eauclaire ◽  
D Cattaert

The resistance of the scorpion Androctonus australis to its own venom, as well as to the venom of other species, was investigated. A comparison of the electrical and pharmacological properties of muscle and nerve fibres from Androctonus australis with those from the crayfish Procambarus clarkii enabled us to understand the lack of effect of scorpion venom (110-180 microg ml-1) and purified toxins, which are active on voltage-gated Na+ and K+ channels, Ca2+-activated K+ channels, on scorpion tissues. Voltage-clamp experiments showed that peptide K+ channel blockers from scorpion and snake have no effect on currents in muscle and nerve fibres from either scorpions or crayfish. The scorpion toxin kaliotoxin (KTX), a specific blocker of Kv1.1 and Kv1.3 K+ channels, had no effect on muscle fibres of A. australis (2 micromol l-1) or P. clarkii (400 nmol l-1). Similarly, charybdotoxin (ChTX) had no effect on the muscle fibres of A. australis (10 micromol l-1) or P. clarkii (200 nmol l-1) and neither did the snake toxin dendrotoxin (DTX) at concentrations of 100 nmol l-1 in A. australis and 200 nmol l-1 in P. clarkii. These three toxins (KTX, ChTX and DTX) did not block K+ currents recorded from nerve fibres in P. clarkii. The pharmacology of the K+ channels in these two arthropods did not conform to that previously described for K+ channels in other species. Current-clamp experiments clearly indicated that the venom of A. australis (50 microg ml-1) had no effect on the shape of the action potential recorded from nerve cord axons from A. australis. At a concentration of 50 microg ml-1, A. australis venom greatly prolonged the action potential in the crayfish giant axon. The absence of any effect of the anti-mammal <IMG src="/images/symbols/&agr ;.gif" WIDTH="9" HEIGHT="12" ALIGN="BOTTOM" NATURALSIZEFLAG="3">-toxin AaH II (100 nmol l-1) and the anti-insect toxin AaH IT1 (100 nmol l-1) on scorpion nerve fibres revealed strong pharmacological differences between the voltage-gated Na+ channels of scorpion and crayfish. We conclude that the venom from A. australis is pharmacologically inactive on K+ channels and on voltage-sensitive Na+ channels from this scorpion.


1988 ◽  
Vol 60 (6) ◽  
pp. 2168-2179 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. L. Eng ◽  
T. R. Gordon ◽  
J. D. Kocsis ◽  
S. G. Waxman

1. The sensitivities of mammalian myelinated axons to potassium channel blockers was studied over the course of development using in vitro sucrose gap and intra-axonal recording techniques. 2. Application of 4-aminopyridine (4-AP; 1.0 mM) to young nerves led to a delay in return to base line of the sciatic nerve compound action potential and to a postspike positivity (indicative of hyperpolarization) lasting for tens of milliseconds. These effects were very much attenuated during the course of maturation. 3. Tetraethylammonium chloride (TEA; 10 mM) application alone had little effect on the waveform of the compound action potential at any age. However, the 4-AP-induced postspike positivity was blocked by TEA, Ba/+, and Cs+. This block was observed in Ca2+-free electrolyte solutions containing EGTA (1.0 mM). 4. Immature sciatic nerves (approximately 3 wk postnatal) were incubated in a potassium-free electrolyte solution containing 120 mM CsCl for up to 1 h in an attempt to replace internal potassium with cesium. When the nerves were tested in the sucrose gap chamber using solutions containing 3.0 mM CsCl substituted for KCl, the compound action potential was broadened and a prolonged depolarization appeared, but there was no postspike positivity; the CsCl effect was similar to the combined effects of 4-AP and TEA. 5. Intra-axonal recordings were obtained to study the effects of 4-AP and TEA on individual axons. In the presence of 4-AP a single stimulus led to a burst of action potentials followed by a pronounced afterhyperpolarization (AHP) in sensory fibers. The AHP was blocked by TEA. In motor fibers 4-AP application resulted in action potential broadening with no AHP. 6. Repetitive stimulation (200-500 Hz; 100 ms) was followed by a pronounced AHP in both sensory and motor fibers at all ages studied. This activity-elicited AHP was sensitive to TEA at all ages. 7. The results indicate that 4-AP and TEA sensitivity change over the course of development in rat sciatic nerve. The effects of 4-AP are much more pronounced in immature nerves than in mature nerves, suggesting that 4-AP-sensitive channels become masked as they are covered by myelin during maturation. However, the TEA-sensitive channels, demonstrable after repetitive firing, remain accessible to TEA after myelination. These channels therefore may have a nodal representation.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuhei Uemura ◽  
Tsugumi Fujita ◽  
Sena Ohtsubo ◽  
Naomi Hirakawa ◽  
Yoshiro Sakaguchi ◽  
...  

Antiepileptics used for treating neuropathic pain have various actions including voltage-gated Na+and Ca2+channels, glutamate-receptor inhibition, andGABAA-receptor activation, while local anesthetics are also used to alleviate the pain. It has not been fully examined yet how nerve conduction inhibitions by local anesthetics differ in extent from those by antiepileptics. Fast-conducting compound action potentials (CAPs) were recorded from frog sciatic nerve fibers by using the air-gap method. Antiepileptics (lamotrigine and carbamazepine) concentration dependently reduced the peak amplitude of the CAP (IC50=0.44and 0.50 mM, resp.). Carbamazepine analog oxcarbazepine exhibited an inhibition smaller than that of carbamazepine. Antiepileptic phenytoin (0.1 mM) reduced CAP amplitude by 15%. On the other hand, other antiepileptics (gabapentin, sodium valproate, and topiramate) at 10 mM had no effect on CAPs. The CAPs were inhibited by local anesthetic levobupivacaine (IC50=0.23 mM). These results indicate that there is a difference in the extent of nerve conduction inhibition among antiepileptics and that some antiepileptics inhibit nerve conduction with an efficacy similar to that of levobupivacaine or to those of other local anesthetics (lidocaine, ropivacaine, and cocaine) as reported previously. This may serve to know a contribution of nerve conduction inhibition in the antinociception by antiepileptics.


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