Effect of glibenclamide on antinociceptive effects of antidepressants of different classes

• Main Authors: Valiollah Hajhashemi, Bahareh Amin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Faculdade de Medicina / USP 2011-01-01
• Series: Clinics
• Subjects: Antidepressants; Antinociceptive; ATP dependent K+ channels
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1807-59322011000200023
• ISSN: 1807-5932; 1980-5322

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this work was to determine whether the intraperitoneal administration of glibenclamide as a K ATP channel blocker could have an effect on the antinociceptive effects of antidepressants with different mechanisms of action. METHODS: Three antidepressant drugs, amitriptyline as a dual-action, nonselective inhibitor of noradrenaline and a serotonin reuptake inhibitor, fluvoxamine as a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor and maprotiline as a selective noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor, were selected, and the effect of glibenclamide on their antinociceptive activities was assessed in male Swiss mice (25-30 g) using a formalin test. DISCUSSION: None of the drugs affected acute nociceptive responses during the first phase. Amitriptyline (5, 10 mg/ kg), maprotiline (10, 20 mg/kg) and fluvoxamine (20 and 30 mg/kg) effectively inhibited pain induction caused by the second phase of the formalin test. Glibenclamide (5 mg/kg) alone did not alter licking behaviors based on a comparison with the control group. However, the pretreatment of animals with glibenclamide (10 and 15 mg/kg) partially reversed the antinociceptive effects of fluvoxamine but not those of maprotiline. In addition, the highest dose of glibenclamide (15 mg/kg) partially prevented the analgesic effect of amitriptyline. CONCLUSION: Therefore, it seems that adenosine triphosphate-dependent potassium channels have a major role in the analgesic activity of amitriptyline and fluvoxamine.