Activation of Spinal Cholecystokinin and Neurokinin-1 Receptors Is Associated With the Attenuation of Intrathecal Morphine Analgesia Following Electroacupuncture Stimulation in Rats

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We previously demonstrated that electroacupuncture (EA) stimulation both produced antinociception and attenuated intrathecal (i.t.) morphine analgesia, suggesting that EA is capable of inducing two opposing systems, that is, opioid and anti-opioid mechanisms. This study examined the involvement of cholecystokinin (CCK) in the anti-opioid effects following EA in the spinal cord. EA was applied to commonly used acupoints for antinociception, ST-36 located 5-mm lateral to the anterior tubercle of the tibia, and analgesia was assessed by the hind-paw pressure test in male Sprague-Dawley rats. I.t. administration of CCK (0.01 – 10 μg) attenuated i.t. morphine analgesia (10 μg) dose-dependently. The attenuation of morphine analgesia following EA was reversed by i.t. proglumide, a CCK-receptor antagonist (0.01 μg). CCK-like immunoreactivity was increased in lamina I and II in the dorsal horn, and expression of spinal CCK mRNA increased after EA. Moreover, i.t. pretreatment with the neurokinin-1 (NK1)-receptor antagonist L-703,606 (18 μg) reversed both EA- and CCK-induced attenuation of morphine analgesia. These results suggest that CCK-mediated neural systems in the spinal cord may be involved in the attenuation of morphine analgesia following EA and that substance P-induced activation of NK1 receptors may be responsible for the downstream neuronal transmission of the CCK-mediated neuronal system.
2007-06-20