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Intracisternal injection of palmitoylethanolamide inhibits the peripheral nociceptive evoked responses of dorsal horn wide dynamic range neurons

  • Neurology and Preclinical Neurological Studies - Short communication
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Abstract

Endogenous palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) has a key role in pain modulation. Central or peripheral PEA can reduce nociceptive behavior, but no study has yet reported a descending inhibitory effect on the neuronal nociceptive activity of Aδ- and C-fibers. This study shows that intracisternal PEA inhibits the peripheral nociceptive responses of dorsal horn wide dynamic range cells (i.e., inhibition of Aδ- and C-fibers), an effect blocked by spinal methiothepin. These results suggest that a descending analgesic mechanism mediated by the serotonergic system could be activated by central PEA.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are indebted to Dr. Dorothy D. Pless for revising grammatical aspects of the manuscript. This work was supported by the National Council of Science and Technology (CONACyT Mexico) (Grant No. 164536). AGH is a postdoctoral fellow of CONACyT Mexico.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Neurobiología del Desarrollo y Neurofisiología, Instituto de Neurobiología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Campus UNAM-Juriquilla, Boulevard Juriquilla 3001, 76230, Querétaro, Mexico

    Abimael González-Hernández, Guadalupe Martínez-Lorenzana, Javier Rodríguez-Jiménez, Gerardo Rojas-Piloni & Miguel Condés-Lara

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  1. Abimael González-Hernández
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  2. Guadalupe Martínez-Lorenzana
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  3. Javier Rodríguez-Jiménez
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  4. Gerardo Rojas-Piloni
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  5. Miguel Condés-Lara
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Correspondence to Miguel Condés-Lara.

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González-Hernández, A., Martínez-Lorenzana, G., Rodríguez-Jiménez, J. et al. Intracisternal injection of palmitoylethanolamide inhibits the peripheral nociceptive evoked responses of dorsal horn wide dynamic range neurons. J Neural Transm 122, 369–374 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-014-1255-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-014-1255-6

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