EDULININE ANALGESIA AND ITS MECHANISM OF ACTION

In this report, edulinine analgesia and its mechanism of action were studied. Oral and peritoneal administrations of edulinine were found to inhibit writhing response in mice with ED₅₀s of 237.76 and 111.38 mg/kg respectively. Pain threshold (hot-plate) in mice was significantly enhanced by both ip (100 mg/kg) and icv (4 mg/kg) administrations. At a dose of 200 mg/kg (ip), the pain threshold (tail-flick) in rats was also enhanced significantly, Pretreatment with either reserpine or pargyline did not influence the analgesia of edulinine Naloxone (ip) 5 mg/kg was shown to partially antagonize the analgesia of edulinine, but 1 mg/kg did not. It is suggested that the analgesia of edulinine is of partial central action and seems related not directly to monoamine neurotransmitters, but probably to opiate (kappa) receptors in brain.