THE ANTINOCICEPTIVE EFFECTS OF BRANCHED-CHAIN AMINO-ACIDS - EVIDENCE FOR THEIR ABILITY TO POTENTIATE MORPHINE ANALGESIA

The effect of branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) on pain threshold was studied in rats. Nociception was induced by the hot-plate analgesia me ter, a method measuring supraspinally organized pain responses. After a single intravenous injection of BCAA (320 mg/kg), the percent change in latency time to the pain response significantly increased by 19% i n 60 min, and by 22% in 75 min (p < 0.005), as compared to an injectio n of an equal volume of a standard concentration of an amino acid solu tion or physiological saline. Subsequently, we studied the interaction of BCAA with opioid-type analgesia. In combination with intravenously injected morphine (3 mg/kg), BCAA significantly potentiated and prolo nged the action of morphine using the hot-plate test. From 5 min after morphine injection, the latencies to a pain response were markedly hi gher with the combination of BCAA and morphine (+80% and +89% at 5 min after morphine injection, if BCAA was administered 45 or 60 min prior to morphine injection, respectively) when compared with the effect of morphine alone (+13% at 5 min; p < 0.005). BCAA demonstrated analgesi c effects, which, in combination with morphine, potentiated and prolon ged the antinociceptive action of morphine. BCAA may represent a new a djunct treatment modality for acute and chronic pain, and give us furt her insight into the mechanisms of pain control.