Wise Young
10-26-2003, 11:26 AM
• Wu WP, Hao JX, Xu XJ, Wiesenfeld-Hallin Z, Koek W and Colpaert FC (2003). The very-high-efficacy 5-HT(1A) receptor agonist, F 13640, preempts the development of allodynia-like behaviors in rats with spinal cord injury. Eur J Pharmacol 478:131-137. Summary: Central neuropathic pain after spinal cord injury (SCI) presents a challenging clinical problem with limited treatment options. [(3-chloro-4-fluoro-phenyl)-[4-fluoro-4-{[(5-methyl-pyridin-2-ylmethyl)-am ino]-methyl}piperidin-1-yl]]-methadone (F 13640) is a recently discovered very-high-efficacy, selective 5-HT(1A) receptor agonist that produces a remarkably powerful, central analgesia through unprecedented neuroadaptive mechanisms. In a rat model of spinal cord injury pain, we previously found that chronic infusion of F 13640 alleviated pain-like behaviors. Here, we report that infusion of 0.63 mg/day of F 13640 for 8 weeks starting 24 h before the induction of injury significantly attenuates the development of chronic allodynia-like behavior in rats sustaining a photochemically-induced, ischaemic injury of the dorsal laminae of the L3-L5 segments of the spinal cord. Importantly, the preemptive effect of F 13640 persisted for 2 months after treatment was discontinued. The data warrant the study of the possible effects of the early administration of F 13640 in patients sustaining spinal cord injury. Division of Clinical Neurophysiology, Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences and Technology, Huddinge University Hospital, Huddinge, Sweden.