Acetaminophen Reinforces Descending Inhibitory Pain Pathways

The mechanism of the analgesic action of acetaminophen involves the serotonergic system. This study explores how acetaminophen interferes with serotonergic descending pain pathways. Eighteen rapid metabolizers of tropisetron were included in this double‐blind cross‐over study. After ethical approval...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Clinical pharmacology and therapeutics 2008-07, Vol.84 (1), p.47-51
Main Authors: Pickering, G, Estève, V, Loriot, M‐A, Eschalier, A, Dubray, C
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acetaminophen - pharmacology
Acetaminophen - therapeutic use
Adult
Area Under Curve
Cross-Over Studies
Double-Blind Method
Humans
Male
Pain - drug therapy
Pain - physiopathology
Pain Measurement - drug effects
Pain Measurement - methods
Pain Threshold - drug effects
Pain Threshold - physiology
Pyramidal Tracts - drug effects
Pyramidal Tracts - physiology
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The mechanism of the analgesic action of acetaminophen involves the serotonergic system. This study explores how acetaminophen interferes with serotonergic descending pain pathways. Eighteen rapid metabolizers of tropisetron were included in this double‐blind cross‐over study. After ethical approval, the healthy volunteers took 1 g oral acetaminophen (A) or placebo (p) combined with either the 5‐HT3 antagonist tropisetron (T) (5 mg) or saline, intravenously, at weekly intervals. Mechanical pain thresholds, determined before and after a cold pressor test (CPT), were repeated seven times during the three post‐dosing hours, and area under the concentration–time curves (AUCs) of the three treatments were compared. After CPT, AUC (%*min) of Ap (1,561±429) was larger than before CPT (393±382, P
ISSN:0009-9236
1532-6535
DOI:10.1038/sj.clpt.6100403