Anti-nociceptive effects of diazepam binding inhibitor in the central nervous system of rats

Abstract

The present study investigated the effect of diazepam binding inhibitor (DBI) on nociception in the central nervous system of rats. There were dose-dependent increases in hindpaw withdrawal latency (HWL) to noxious thermal and mechanical stimulation after intrathecal injection of 1, 5 or 10 μg of DBI in rats, indicating a DBI-induced anti-nociceptive effect at the spinal levels of rats. Furthermore, it was found that there were no significant influences of intrathecal co-administration of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) on the intrathecal DBI-induced increases in HWLs of rats. Intracerebroventricular administration of 1, 10 or 20 μg of DBI also induced dose-dependent increases in HWL to thermal and mechanical stimulation in rats, suggesting an anti-nociceptive effect of DBI in the brain. Moreover, there were no significant influences of intracerebroventricular co-administration of 2 μg of GABA on the intracerebroventricular DBI-induced increases in HWL of rats. The results of the present study demonstrated that DBI played anti-nociceptive effects in the central nervous system of rats.