Background: Acute and chronic ethanol produces antinociception, and ethanol
withdrawal induces hyperalgesia.
Methods: A radiant heat tail-flick assay was used to assess the effects of
benzodiazepine ligands on ethanol-induced changes in nociception in rats. A
cute activity of cumulative doses of ethanol (0.5-2.0 g/kg) and diazepam (0
.1-10 mg/kg), a benzodiazepine agonist, was tested alone and after pretreat
ment with flumazenil (1.0-10 mg/kg), a benzodiazepine antagonist. Chronic e
ffects of ethanol were rested in three groups of rats that received a Liqui
d diet for 10 days. One group received ethanol alone; one group received et
hanol and twice-daily injections of flumazenil (10 mg/kg); and one received
a dextrin control diet. Acute withdrawal was tested at 12 hr after removal
of the liquid diet. Effects of cumulative doses of diazepam (1.0-10 mg/kg)
were tested during withdrawal (12 hr) in the ethanol-alone group.
Results: Acute doses of ethanol produced a small but significant degree of
antinociception, which was fully suppressed by flumazenil. Acute doses of d
iazepam did not produce antinociception. Chronic exposure to ethanol produc
ed antinociception on days 2 through 8. Tolerance developed by day 10, and
hyperalgesia was seen 12 hr after removal of ethanol. Administration of dia
zepam or ethanol during withdrawal reversed the hyperalgesia induced by eth
anol withdrawal. However, flumazenil (10-50 mg/kg) failed to reverse the an
tihyperalgesic effect of either diazepam or ethanol. No antinociception was
seen in either the ethanol/flumazenil or dextrin control groups.
Conclusions:These results suggest that the antinociceptive effects of both
acute and chronic ethanol are at least partially mediated by GABA receptors
, and that diazepam's antihyperalgesic effects may not be mediated by the G
ABA acid receptor.