Effect of fluvoxamine on sufentanil antinociception and tolerance under chronic intravenous infusion in rats.

Fluvoxamine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), significantly potentiates analgesia when administered in animals together with opioids. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of fluvoxamine on sufentanil antinociception and tolerance. Following animal care committee approval, the effects of continuous infusions of fluvoxamine and sufentanil were studied in behavioural tests (hot-plate test, tail-flick test, catalepsy test) in Sprague-Dawley rats with a jugular vein catheter.

Block of P/Q-type calcium channels by therapeutic concentrations of aminoglycoside antibiotics.

Aminoglycoside antibiotics can cause neuromuscular block by inhibiting Ca2+ influx into motor nerve terminals. P/Q-type Ca2+ channels, which are formed by alpha 1A subunits, are mainly responsible for depolarization-dependent presynaptic Ca2+ entry in motor neurons. We therefore investigated the possibility that aminoglycosides function as P/Q-type channel blockers.

Effect of the NMDA-antagonist, MK 801, on benzodiazepine-opioid interactions at the spinal and supraspinal level in rats.

1. Benzodiazepines potentiate morphine antinociception at the spinal level via GABAergic mechanisms. At the supraspinal level, the inhibitory effect of midazolam on morphine antinociception cannot be easily explained by GABAA receptor activation.