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Nociceptin inhibits excitatory but not inhibitory transmission to substantia gelatinosa neurones of adult rat spinal cord

Although intrathecal administration of nociceptin, an endogenous ligand of the opioid receptor-like1 receptor, exhibits an antinociceptive effect in various pain models, cellular mechanisms underlying this action are still unknown. Here, we investigated the effects of nociceptin on excitatory and in...

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Published in:Neuroscience 2002-01, Vol.109 (2), p.349-358
Main Authors: Luo, C, Kumamoto, E, Furue, H, Chen, J, Yoshimura, M
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:Although intrathecal administration of nociceptin, an endogenous ligand of the opioid receptor-like1 receptor, exhibits an antinociceptive effect in various pain models, cellular mechanisms underlying this action are still unknown. Here, we investigated the effects of nociceptin on excitatory and inhibitory synaptic transmission to substantia gelatinosa neurones of an adult rat spinal cord slice with an attached dorsal root by use of the blind whole-cell patch-clamp technique; this was done under the condition of a blockade of a hyperpolarising effect of nociceptin. In about 70% of the neurones examined, nociceptin (1 μM) reduced the amplitude of glutamatergic excitatory postsynaptic currents (EPSCs) which were monosynaptically evoked by stimulating Aδ- or C-afferent fibres; the inhibition of C-fibre EPSCs (50±6%, n=11) was larger than that of Aδ-fibre EPSCs (30±5%, n=23; P
ISSN:0306-4522
1873-7544
DOI:10.1016/S0306-4522(01)00459-6