Acute anti-allodynic action of gabapentin in dorsal horn and primary somatosensory cortex: Correlation of behavioural and physiological data.

Neuropathic pain is a debilitating consequence of neuronal injury or disease. Although first line treatments include the alpha-2-delta (α2δ)-ligands, pregabalin and gabapentin (GBP), the mechanism of their anti-allodynic action is poorly understood. One specific paradox is that GBP relieves signs of neuropathic pain in animal models within 30min of an intraperitoneal (IP) injection yet its actions in vitro on spinal dorsal horn or primary afferent neurons take hours to develop.