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Both midazolam, a benzodiazepine -aminobutyric acid type A receptor agonist, and clonidine, an 2-adrenergic receptor agonist, induce spinally-mediated analgesia. We investigated the analgesic interaction of spinally-administered midazolam and clonidine in their effects on acute and inflammatory nociception. Rats implanted with lumbar intrathecal catheters were injected intrathecally with saline (control), midazolam (1 to 100 µg), or clonidine (0.1 to 3 µg) to test for their responses to thermal stimulation to the tail (tail-flick test) and subcutaneous formalin injection into the hind paw (formalin test). The effects of the combination of midazolam and clonidine on both stimuli were tested by isobolographic analysis by using the 50% effective doses. The general behavior and motor function were examined as side effects. When combined, the 50% effective doses of midazolam (clonidine) decreased from 1.57 µg (0.26 µg) to 0.29g (0.05 µg) in the tail-flick test and from 1.34 µg (0.12 µg) and 1.21 µg (0.13 µg) to 0.05 µg (0.005 µg) and 0.13 µg (0.015 µg) in Phase 1 and 2 of the formalin test, respectively. Side effects did not increase by using the combination. These results suggest a favorable combination of intrathecal midazolam and clonidine in the management of acute and inflammatory pain after proper neurotoxicologic studies.
IMPLICATIONS: Spinally-administered midazolam, a benzodiazepine, and clonidine, an
The inhibitory neurotransmitter -aminobutyric acid (GABA) is found in the spinal cord, and the benzodiazepine binding site is present on the GABAA receptor (Cl- channel). GABAA-benzodiazepine receptors have been found in a high density in laminae II and III of the dorsal horn of the spinal cord (1), where most primary afferents responsive to noxious stimulation have their central terminals. Midazolam, a benzodiazepine derivative, has analgesic effects mediated by GABAA-benzodiazepine receptors in the spinal cord (2).
Intrathecally-administered clonidine, an Synergistic interaction can occur when drugs affect different critical points along a common pathway. Therefore, we hypothesized a synergistic antinociceptive effect between midazolam and clonidine. However, there are few studies of spinally-mediated analgesic interaction between midazolam and clonidine (7). In this study, we investigated the antinociceptive interaction between midazolam and clonidine in two different rat models of acute thermal and inflammatory nociception.
The protocol was approved by the IRB of the University of Tokyo. Male Sprague-Dawley rats (280300 g for the tail-flick test and behavioral test, 330350 g for the formalin test; Nippon Bio-Supply, Tokyo, Japan) were implanted with chronic lumbar intrathecal catheters under sevoflurane (3%) anesthesia. An 8.5-cm polyethylene (PE-10; Clay Adams, Parsippany, NJ) catheter was advanced caudally through an incision in the atlanto-occipital membrane to the thoracolumbar level of the spinal cord. The external part of the catheter was tunneled subcutaneously to exit on the top of the skull and plugged with a 28-gauge stainless steel wire. After surgery, all rats were housed individually in a temperature- and light-controlled environment with free access to food and water. Only rats with normal motor function and behavior 7 days after surgery were used. The position of the catheter was confirmed to be in the intrathecal space at L3 to L5 by exposing the lumbar spinal cord after killing the animals at the end of the study. The data of the rats with the catheter not in the proper place were excluded from the study. In each dose group, eight randomly selected rats were used after exclusion. A total of 224 rats were used because each rat was used only once.
Midazolam (a benzodiazepine-GABAA receptor agonist; Sigma, St. Louis, MO) 1, 3, 10, 30, and 100 µg and clonidine (an For the tail-flick test (8), the rats were placed into a clear plastic cylindrical cage with their tails extending through a slot provided in the rear of the cylinder. Noxious stimulation was provided by a beam of high-intensity light (Tail-Flick Analgesia Meter MK-330A; Muromachi Kikai Co. Ltd., Tokyo, Japan) focused on the tail 2 to 3 cm proximal to the end. The response time was measured and defined as the interval between the onset of the thermal stimulation and the abrupt flick of the tail. The cutoff time in the absence of a response was set to 14 s to prevent tissue injury. The data were shown as the percentage of maximum possible effect (%MPE): %MPE = (postdrug time - predrug time) x 100/(cutoff time - predrug time). For the formalin test (9), 10 min after the intrathecal administration of the drug or saline, 50 µL of 5% formalin was injected subcutaneously into the dorsal surface of the right hind paw with a 30-gauge needle. Immediately after injection, the rat was placed in an open Plexiglas chamber and observed for 60 min. Quantification of pain behavior was made by counting the incidence of spontaneous flinches or shaking of the injected paw at 12 min, 56 min, and 5-min intervals during a period of 1060 min after formalin injection. Two distinct phases were observed after formalin injection: phase 1, during 06 min interval after injection; and phase 2, beginning approximately 10 min after injection. The general behavior (including agitation and allodynia-like behavior), motor function, flaccidity, pinna reflex, and corneal reflex were examined. They were judged as present or absent. Agitation was judged as spontaneous irritable movement, vocalization, or both. The presence of allodynia-like behavior was examined by looking for agitation (escape, vocalization, or both) evoked by lightly stroking the flank of the rat with a small probe. Motor function was evaluated by the placing or stepping reflex and the righting reflex. The former was evoked by drawing the dorsum of either hind paw across the edge of the table. Normally rats try to put the paw ahead into a position to walk. The latter was assessed by placing the rat horizontally with its back on the table, which normally produces an immediate, coordinated twisting of the body to an upright position. The disturbance of the righting reflex also shows impairment of function of the central nervous system. Flaccidity was judged as muscle weakness by putting the forepaw 3 to 5 cm higher than the hind paw. Normally the rat will walk up. We judged the rat flaccid when it did not move after positioning. Pinna and corneal reflexes were examined with a paper string. When a paper string is put into the ear canal or touches the cornea, rats normally shake their heads or blink, respectively.
The first series of experiments were performed to determine the dose dependency of the antinociceptive effects of intrathecally-administered midazolam or clonidine on both the tail-flick test and the formalin test. To investigate the interaction between midazolam and clonidine, an isobolographic analysis was used (10). The method is based on comparisons of the dose ratios that are determined to be equieffective. First, the respective 50% effective dose (ED50) values were determined from the dose-response curves of the drugs alone. Subsequently, a dose-response curve was obtained by coadministration of the two drugs in a constant dose ratio based on the ED50 values of the Phase 2 of the single drugs, i.e., combinations of each 1/2 ED50, 1/4 ED50, 1/8 ED50, or To describe the magnitude of interaction between drugs, a total fractional dose value was calculated as follows:
The values were normalized by assigning the ED50 value of each drug given alone as 1. Values near 1 suggest an additive interaction, values >1 imply an antagonistic interaction, and values <1 indicate a synergistic interaction. Students t-tests were used to compare the calculated ED50 values with the theoretical additive values. A P value <0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Both intrathecal midazolam and clonidine induced dose-dependent increases of the tail-flick latency (Fig. 1). The combination of midazolam and clonidine also showed a dose-dependent increase of the tail-flick latency (Fig. 1), and the ED50 values obtained by combination were significantly less than the calculated additive values; this indicates synergistic interaction (Fig. 2, Table 1). Total fractional dose value was 0.38 (0.190.52; 95% confidence interval).
The number of flinches in both Phase 1 and 2 was decreased by increasing doses of midazolam, clonidine, or their combination (Fig. 3). The isobolographic analysis and ED50 values showed significant synergistic effects of midazolam and clonidine in both phases of the formalin test (Fig. 4, Table 1). The total fractional dose value of Phase 1 was 0.079 (0.0350.101), and that of Phase 2 was 0.22 (0.100.35).
Pinna and corneal reflexes were not disturbed in the rats tested in this study. Motor disturbances tested by the placing or stepping and righting reflexes and flaccidity were observed in rats receiving large doses of midazolam. The combination of midazolam and clonidine did not induce motor disturbance (Table 2).
The results of this study show that intrathecally-administered combinations of midazolam (benzodiazepine-GABAA receptor agonist) and clonidine ( 2-adrenergic receptor agonist) produce synergistic antinociception to both acute thermal and inflammation-induced nociceptive stimuli. Although disturbance of placing or stepping or righting reflex was evident in the Large-Dose Midazolam group, the rats still produced a vigorous tail-flick response and paw flinches, indicating that the motor disturbance did not interfere with the animals ability to respond to the noxious stimulus. The Phase 1 response of the formalin test is caused by the direct stimulation of nociceptors by formalin or tissue damage and is thought to be an acute pain reaction (9). The Phase 2 response is caused by subsequent inflammation after formalin injection and central sensitization related to C-fiber activity (11). Therefore, from our study, midazolam might be able to diminish not only acute nociceptive activity, but also central sensitization. Serrao et al. (12) showed no effects of intrathecal midazolam in the tail-flick test, in contrast to our results. However, in their study, by using an electrical current threshold for pain in the tail, midazolam had spinally-mediated segmented analgesic effects. They did not explain the reason for the discrepancy between the results of the tail-flick test and the electrical current threshold test. In addition, we can not clarify the reason of the discrepancy between their results and ours in the tail-flick test. Further studies changing the stimulus intensity, animal species, and other experimental settings are necessary.
Both adenosine A1 and µ-opioid receptor antagonists blocked antinociception produced by
Intrathecal coadministration of clonidine and local anesthetics prolonged analgesic duration compared with local anesthetic alone (16). Clonidine may complement the action of local anesthetics on sodium channels by opening the potassium channels, resulting in membrane hyperpolarization, a state that is unresponsive to excitatory input (17). Adding clonidine to spinal meperidine prolongs the duration and enhances the degree of postoperative analgesia (18), and this suggests an interaction between the Long-term intrathecal administration of midazolam with clonidine was effective for refractory neurogenic and musculoskeletal pain in humans (7). In that clinical report, however, the potential interaction of midazolam and clonidine was not discussed. The results of this study support the hypothesis that midazolam and clonidine are synergistic in antinociception. From Figure 1, it seems that the analgesic effects lasted longer in clonidine alone than the combination of midazolam and clonidine. However, the doses in the combination group were much smaller than those in the Clonidine-Alone group. Therefore, we could not suggest that the combination decreased the duration of analgesia but could say that when the doses were reduced to get the same potency of analgesia as clonidine alone, the duration might have decreased.
The Neurotoxicity of midazolam and clonidine is still controversial. Regarding midazolam, both no evidence (23) and signs (24) of neurotoxicity were reported. Clinically, intrathecal infusion of midazolam for more than two years has induced no side effects (7). Intrathecally-administered clonidine does not affect spinal cord histology (25). No data are available for the neurotoxicity of intrathecal coadministration of midazolam and clonidine. We suggest that reducing the dose of each drug by combination can decrease toxicity.
In conclusion, intrathecal coadministration of midazolam with clonidine produced significant synergistic effects on thermally-induced acute nociception and formalin-induced persistent nociceptive activation in rats. These results suggest a functional coupling of benzodiazepine-GABAA receptors with
This study was supported in part by Grant in Aid 12671453 from the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture, Japan. We would thank Professor Chingmuh Lee, MD, in the Department of Anesthesiology, University of California, Los Angeles, School of Medicine for his comments.
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