Local anesthetic effect of docosahexaenoic acid on the nociceptive jaw-opening reflex in rats.

Although docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) administration suppresses sodium channels in primary afferent sensory neurons, the acute local effect of DHA on the trigeminal nociceptive reflex remains to be elucidated, in vivo. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate whether local administration of DHA attenuates the nociceptive jaw-opening reflex (JOR) in vivo in the rat. The JOR evoked by electrical stimulation of the tongue was recorded by a digastric muscle electromyogram (dEMG) in pentobarbital-anesthetized rats.