Abstract
Purpose. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of local spinal cord cooling on spinal dorsal-horn neuronal activity, with special emphasis on the role of endogenous opioid.
Methods. Decerebrate, spinal-cord-transected cats (n= 30) were subjected to local spinal-cord irrigation, using 0.9 N saline solution (15°C; n= 15, and 35°C; n= 15) for 90 min. The extracellular, single-cell activity of spinal dorsal-horn neurons responding to noxious stimulation was recorded. Sixty-one minutes after induction of local spinal-cord irrigation, naloxone (0.1 mg·kg−1) was administered intravenously. Local spinal-cord blood flow was measured using the hydrogen clearance technique.
Results. Local spinal cord cooling produced significant suppression of both spontaneous and evoked activity (33.1 ± 7.7% and 31.4 ± 5.5%, respectively; mean ± SE). Naloxone reversed this suppression immediately. Local spinal-cord blood flow was significantly reduced during spinal-cord cooling, but naloxone did not change local spinal-cord blood flow.
Conclusion. The results demonstrate that endogenous opioids may play an important role in dorsal-horn neuronal suppression induced by local spinal-cord cooling.
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Received: October 26, 2001 / Accepted: April 26, 2002
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Dai, M., Sumida, T., Tagami, M. et al. Suppressive effect of spinal dorsal-horn neuronal activity by local spinal-cord cooling is reversed by naloxone in cats. J Anesth 16, 211–215 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/s005400200027
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s005400200027