backround and aim: in the present time, analgesic and anti-inflammatory drugs such as nonseroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and opioid compounds are used for the releif of pain, but due to their side effects and economical issues, the significance of research on finding analgesic drugs with less side effects and their ability to substitute these synthetic drugs and substituting newer analgesic co...

We have studied the involvement of the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) glycine site and the strychnine-sensitive glycine receptor (GlyR) in the ventrolateral periaqueductal gray (VL-PAG) on nociceptive behavior (tail flick) and pain-related changes on neuronal activity in the rostral ventromedial medulla (RVM). Glycine or D-serine increased the tail-flick latency, reduced OFF-cell pause, ...

While the pedagogical benefits of incorporating inquiry driven labs into an undergraduate curriculum are well established, often the prohibitive costs of providing equipment for such labs limits the types of experiences that can be offered. For example, the lab portion of Advanced Neuroscience at Centenary College of Louisiana consists of a semester-long research project developed by the studen...

Background: Opioids like morphine produce side effects ranging from nausea and vomiting, pruritus, over sedation, dizziness and urinary retention to respiratory depression. Particularly, on chronic administration, it leads to development of tolerance. Combining opioids with certain other drugs (adjuvant analgesics) like ketamine, which is an N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, not ...

We have studied the effects of three different types of calcium channel blockers (verapamil, diltiazem, and nicardipine) on local lignocaine sensory block. The standardized tail flick test was used to measure the duration and degree of lignocaine-induced conduction block in rats. After obtaining baseline tail flick latencies (mean 3.2 s), two 100-microliter doses of 0.3% lignocaine alone, a com...

The effect of morphine on regional cerebral glucose metabolism was measured in rats using high resolution [14C]2-deoxyglucose autoradiography with concurrent confirmation of morphine-induced analgesia measured by tail-flick latency to noxious heat. Within the limits of resolution of this technique, doses of morphine sufficient to inhibit the tail-flick reflex had no significant effect on glucos...