Antagonism of nitrous oxide antinociception in mice by antisense oligodeoxynucleotide directed against neuronal nitric oxide synthase enzyme

Nitric oxide (NO) has been implicated in the antinociceptive effect of nitrous oxide (N2O) in mice. This study was conducted to determine the sensitivity of N2O-induced antinociception to antagonism by an antisense oligodeoxynucleotide (AS-ODN) against neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS). The AS-ODN significantly antagonized the antinociceptive effect of N2O in the abdominal constriction test, but a mismatch ODN was without effect. This result implicates the specific involvement of nNOS in N2O-induced antinociception. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]