E. Eisenberg et al., THE EFFECTS OF THE CLINICALLY TESTED NMDA RECEPTOR ANTAGONIST MEMANTINE ON CARRAGEENAN-INDUCED THERMAL HYPERALGESIA IN RATS, European journal of pharmacology, 255(1-3), 1994, pp. 123-129
This study tested the prophylactic and the therapeutic efficacy of mem
antine (1-amino-3,5-dimethyl-amandate), a clinically tested N-methyl-D
-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, in suppressing carrageenan-indu
ced thermal hyperalgesia in rats. Rats were injected with 0.1 ml of 1%
carrageenan solution s.c. into the right hindpaw, and exhibited hyper
algesia in the injected paw as evidenced by a significant reduction of
withdrawal latencies from baseline 1, 3, 5, and 24 h following carrag
eenan. Prophylactic injection of memantine, 10 and 15 mg/kg, significa
ntly suppressed the hyperalgesia 1, 3, and 5 h post-carrageenan, with
maximal effects of 70% (10 mg/kg) and 90% (15 mg/kg) at 1 h post-carra
geenan. Therapeutic injection of 10 mg/kg of memantine (2.5 h post-car
rageenan) had no effect. The 15 mg/kg dose produced a small effect (pe
ak of 44%) at 3.5 h but not at a statistically significant level, and
had no effect 5 h post-carrageenan. This study provides evidence that
memantine produces primarily a prophylactic effect (and has only a ten
dency to produce a therapeutic effect) on carrageenan-induced hyperalg
esia at doses that do not significantly alter other motor behaviors.