Effect of acute and chronic administration of caffeine on pain-like behaviors in rats with partial sciatic nerve injury.

Full Abstract

Caffeine, used in many pain medications as an adjuvant analgesic, is an adenosine A1 and A2A receptor antagonist. Here we examined the effects of acute or chronic caffeine administration in rats after partial sciatic nerve injury. The hindpaw response to mechanical or cold stimulation was assessed following photochemically induced sciatic nerve injury which leads to hypersensitivity to these stimuli. Caffeine was administered i.p. acutely or in the drinking water chronically. The mechanical and cold hypersensitivity of sciatic nerve-injured rats was dose-dependently alleviated by acute systemic administration of caffeine (10-80 mg/kg). The effect of caffeine was, however, associated with side effects including locomotor stimulation or depression. Chronic oral administration (average daily doses 27.5 mg/kg/day or 61.5 mg/kg/day for 2 weeks) of caffeine starting at the time of nerve injury did not significantly affect the development of pain-like behaviors. Thus, acute, but not long term, caffeine intake reduced neuropathic pain state in nerve-injured rats, but only at very high doses. The potential hyperalgesic effect of chronic A1 adenosine receptor blockade may have been compensated for by an antinociceptive effect of caffeine through antagonism of A2A receptors and tolerance development.

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Author information

Author/s: Wu, Wei-Ping (WP); Hao, Jing-Xia (JX); Fredholm, Bertil B (BB); Wiesenfeld-Hallin, Zsuzsanna (Z); Xu, Xiao-Jun (XJ);

Affiliation: Section of Clinical Neurophysiology, Karolinska University Hospital-Huddinge, Karolinska Institutet, S-141 86 Stockholm, Sweden. weiping.wu(-atsign-)labmed.ki.se

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Neuroscience letters (Neurosci Lett), published in Ireland. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2006-Jul; vol 402 (issue 1-2) : pp 164-6

Dates: Created 2006/05/29; Completed 2007/01/16;

PMID: 16644114, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Animals
Behavior, Animal - drug effects
Caffeine - administration & dosage
Central Nervous System Stimulants - administration & dosage
Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
Drug Administration Schedule
Male

Pain - drug therapy; etiology
Pain Measurement - methods
Pain Threshold - drug effects
Rats
Rats, Sprague-Dawley
Sciatic Neuropathy - complications
Time Factors

Associated Chemicals: Central Nervous System Stimulants (0) ; Caffeine (58-08-2)

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