ANTI-INFLAMMATORY AND ANTI-NOCICEPTIVE ACTIVITY OF RISEDRONATE IN EXPERIMENTAL PAIN MODELS IN RATS AND MICE

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1. The antinociceptive effect of risedronate in experimental pain models in rats and mice was investigated in the present study. 2. Rats received zymosan intra-articularly (i.art.) into the right knee joint and the nociceptive response was assessed using the articular incapacitation test. Joint washouts were used for determining cell influx, tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and leukotriene (LT) B4 levels. 3. Mice received either zymosan (1 mg) or acetic acid (0.6%) i.p. and the nociceptive response was measured as the number of writhings between 0 and 30 min after the stimuli. Control animals received i.p. injections of saline. 4. Groups were pretreated with risedronate (5-500 microg/kg, s.c.) and compared with vehicle (saline)-treated (NT) animals. One group of rats was cotreated with the micro-opioid receptor antagonist naloxone (2 mg/kg, s.c.) prior to risedronate, followed by 1 mg zymosan i.art. 5. Risedronate, at 100 and 500 microg/kg, significantly and dose-dependently inhibited the nociceptive response in the writhings test (P < 0.05), inhibiting responses to acetic acid by 65.4 and 49.2%, respectively, and to zymosan by 72.9 and 71.9%, respectively. 6. Pretreatment with risedronate also significantly (P < 0.05) and dose-dependently inhibited the articular incapacitation in zymosan-arthritis. 7. Risedronate, at 50 microg/kg, significantly inhibited TNF-alpha release as compared with the NT group (39.4 +/- 9.8 vs 145.6 +/- 43.3 pg/mL TNF-alpha, respectively). 8. Risedronate, at 50 and 100 microg/kg, significantly inhibited LTB4 release into the joints compared with the NT group (2883.1 +/- 73.2, 1911.5 +/- 205.3 and 4709.9 +/- 237.2 pg/mL, respectively). These effects of risedronate were associated with a significant reduction in the inflammatory cell infiltration. 9. Cotreatment with risedronate and naloxone did not reverse the antinociceptive effects of risedronate in zymosan-arthritis. 10. This is the first demonstration that risedronate displays intrinsic antihypernociceptive activity. This effect is associated with reduced cell infiltration and inhibition of TNF-alpha and LTB4 release and is not linked to an endogenous opioid-release mechanism.