The inhibitory effect of locally injected dexmedetomidine on carrageenan-induced nociception in rats

Recent studies showed that the administration of dexmedetomidine relieved hyperalgesia in the presence of neuropathic pain. These findings have led to the hypothesis that the local administration of dexmedetomidine is useful for relieving acute inflammatory nociception, such as postoperative pain. Thus, we evaluated the inhibitory effect of locally injected dexmedetomidine on acute inflammatory nociception. Acute inflammatory nociception was induced by an intraplantar injection of 1% carrageenan into the hindpaws of rats, and dexmedetomidine was also injected combined with carrageenan. The paw withdrawal threshold based on von Frey filament stimulation was measured until 12 h after injection. We compared the area under the time-curve (AUC) between carrageenan and carrageenan with dexmedetomidine. To clarify that the action of dexmedetomidine was via α₂-adrenoceptors, we evaluated the effect of yohimbine, a selective antagonist of α₂-adrenoceptors, on the anti-nociception of dexmedetomidine. As the results, the intraplantar injection of carrageenan with over 10 μM dexmedetomidine significantly increased AUC, compared to that with only carrageenan injection. This effect of dexmedetomidine was reversed by the addition of yohimbine to carrageenan and dexmedetomidine. These results demonstrated that the locally injected dexmedetomidine was effective against carrageenan-induced inflammatory nociception via α₂-adrenoceptors. The findings suggest that the local injection of dexmedetomidine is useful for relieving local acute inflammatory nociception.