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Background The authors recently established that the analgesic actions of the inhalation anesthetic nitrous oxide were mediated by noradrenergic bulbospinal neurons and spinal alpha2B adrenoceptors. They now determined whether noradrenergic brainstem nuclei and descending spinal pathways are responsible for the antinociceptive actions of the inhalation anesthetic isoflurane, and which alpha adrenoceptors mediate this effect. Methods After selective lesioning of noradrenergic nuclei by intracerebroventricular application of the mitochondrial toxin saporin coupled to the antibody directed against dopamine beta hydroxylase (DbetaH-saporin), the antinociceptive action of isoflurane was determined. Antagonists for the alpha1 and alpha2 adrenoceptors were injected at spinal and supraspinal sites in intact and spinally transected rats to identify the noradrenergic pathways mediating isoflurane antinociception. Null mice for each of the three alpha2-adrenoceptor subtypes (alpha2A, alpha2B, and alpha2C) and their wild-type cohorts were tested for their antinociceptive response to isoflurane. Results Both DbetaH-saporin treatment and chronic spinal transection enhanced the antinociceptive effects of isoflurane. The alpha1-adrenoceptor antagonist prazosin also enhanced isoflurane antinociception at a supraspinal site of action. The alpha2-adrenoceptor antagonist yohimbine inhibited isoflurane antinociception, and this effect was mediated by spinal alpha2 adrenoceptors. Null mice for the alpha2A-adrenoceptor subtype showed a reduced antinociceptive response to isoflurane. Conclusions The authors suggest that, at clinically effective concentrations, isoflurane can modulate nociception via three different mechanisms: (1) a pronociceptive effect requiring descending spinal pathways, brainstem noradrenergic nuclei, and supraspinal alpha1 adrenoceptors; (2) an antinociceptive effect requiring descending noradrenergic neurons and spinal alpha2A adrenoceptors; and (3) an antinociceptive effect mediated within the spinal cord for which no role for adrenergic mechanism has been found.

UNLABELLED: This study investigated the analgesic potency and site of action of systemic dexmedetomidine, a selective alpha2-adrenoceptor (alpha2AR) agonist, in normal and neuropathic rats. Ligation of the L5-6 spinal nerves produced a chronic mechanical and thermal neuropathic hyperalgesia in rats. von Frey fibers and a thermoelectric Peltier device were used to measure mechanical and heat withdrawal thresholds over the hindpaw. Systemic dexmedetomidine dose-dependently increased the mechanical and thermal thresholds in the control animals (50% effective dose [ED50] 144 and 180 microg/kg intraperitoneally [i.p.], respectively). Neuropathic animals responded to much smaller doses of dexmedetomidine with mechanical and thermal ED50 values of 52 and 29 microg/kg i.p., respectively. There was no difference between the control and neuropathic animals with respect to dexmedetomidine-evoked sedation, as determined by decreased grid crossings in an open-field activity chamber (ED50 12 and 9 microg/kg i.p., respectively). Atipamezole, a selective alpha2AR antagonist, blocked the analgesic and sedative actions of dexmedetomidine inboth the neuropathic and control animals. However, L-659,066, a peripherally restricted alpha2AR antagonist, could only block the analgesic actions of dexmedetomidine in the neuropathic rats, with no effect in control animals. In conclusion, nerve injury enhanced the analgesic but not the sedative potency of systemic dexmedetomidine and may have shifted the site of alpha2 analgesic action to outside the blood-brain barrier. IMPLICATIONS: We tested the analgesic efficacy of the alpha2 agonist dexmedetomidine in normal and nerve-injured rats. The analgesic potency of dexmedetomidine was enhanced after nerve injury with a site of action outside the central nervous system. Peripherally restricted alpha2 agonists may be useful in the management of neuropathic pain.

Publisher Summary α 2 -Adrenergic receptors ( α 2 ARs) are broadly associated with inhibitory actions of norepinephrine and epinephrine. Studies with drugs designed as α 2 AR agonists and antagonists have shown that α 2 ARs participate in a wide range of central nervous system activities, including central regulation of blood pressure, sedation and analgesia, control of affect, and modulation of pituitary hormone release. In the periphery, α 2 ARs inhibit neurotransmitter release from peripheral nervous system neuronal terminals, inhibit insulin secretion by pancreatic β cells, and participate in the regulation of water and electrolyte balance in the kidney. The α 2 ARs that elicit these varied responses represent a structural and functional family of receptor subtypes defined by pharmacological measurements and molecular cloning. Interest of studies has been to establish a mouse line that expressed a mutant α 2A AR receptor with selectively altered signal transduction capabilities. Studies have shown that mutation of the highly conserved aspartate residue at position 79 in the α 2A AR to asparagine (D79N) results in a receptor that is uncoupled from a single signaling pathway. In this purpose the two-step “hit and run” gene-targeting approach is successfully used in mouse embryonic stem cells to establish a mouse line with this D79N α 2A AR mutation. Such studies reveal that the α 2A AR subtype has a role central to several of the clinically desirable effects of α 2A R agonists, suggesting that these functions cannot be separated by administering subtype-specific drugs. Null mutation of the α 2B AR subtype has revealed that this subtype mediates the increase in blood pressure immediately following α 2A R agonist administration. Thus, drugs that are selective for the α 2A AR subtype relative to the α 2B AR subtype may hold promise as improved antihypertensive agents. Sedative side effects might be eliminated if high-affinity partial agonists are developed, especially if higher receptor occupancy is needed to evoke sedation in contrast to hypotension.