Pindolol, a beta-adrenoceptor blocker/5-hydroxytryptamine1A/1B antagonist, enhances the analgesic effect of tramadol

The ability of pindolol, a beta-adrenoceptor blocker/5-hydroxytryptamine(1A/1B) antagonist, to enhance the clinical antidepressant response to selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors is generally attributed to a blocking of the feedback that inhibits the serotoninergic neuronal activity mediated by somatodendritic 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)(1A) autoreceptors. The current study examined the ability of pindolol to enhance the analgesic effect of tramadol, an atypical centrally-acting analgesic agent with relatively weak opioid receptor affinity and which, like some antidepressants, is able to inhibit the re-uptake of 5-HT in the raphe nuclei. Racemic pindolol (2 mg/kg, s.c.), rendered analgesic a non-effective acute dose of tramadol (10-40 mg/kg, i.p.) in two nociceptive tests: a hot plate test in mice and a plantar test in rats. Moreover, (+/-)8-OH-DPAT (0.125-1 mg/kg, s.c.), a selective 5-HT1A agonist, reduces the analgesic effect of tramadol in the same tests. These results suggest an implication of the somatodendritic 5-HT1A receptors in the analgesic effect of tramadol and open a new adjuvant analgesic strategy for the use of this compound. (C) 2000 International Association for the Study of Pain. Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.