Abstract
The present study investigated the effects of subcutaneous (sc) and intracerebroventricular (icv) injections of physostigmine (a cholinesterase inhibitor), atropine (an antagonist of muscarinic cholinergic receptors) and hexamethonium (an antagonist of nicotinic cholinergic receptors) on the acute corneal nociception in rats. Local application of 5M NaCl solution on the corneal surface of the eye produced a significant nociceptive behavior, characterized by eye wiping. The number of eye wipes was counted during the first 30s. The sc (0.25, 0.5 and 1mg/kg) and icv (1.25, 2.5, 5 and 10µg) injections of physostigmine significantly (p<0.05) decreased the number of eye wipes. Atropine and hexamethonium at (2mg/kg, sc and 20µg, icv) had no effects when used alone, however, atropine, but not hexamethonium prevented the antinociception induced by physostigmine (sc and icv). The results of this study indicate that the central muscarinic, but not nicotinic receptors might be involved in the antinociceptive effect of physostigmine in the acute corneal model of pain in rats.
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