%0 Journal Article
%T Assessment of Mechanisms Involved in Antinociception Produced by the Alkaloid Caulerpine
%A Luiz Henrique Agra Cavalcante-Silva
%A Maria Alice Pimentel Falc£¿o
%A Ana Carolina Santana Vieira
%A Max Denisson Maur¨ªcio Viana
%A Jo£¿o Xavier de Ara¨²jo-J¨²nior
%A J¨¦ssica Celestino Ferreira Sousa
%A Tania Maria Sarmento da Silva
%A Jos¨¦ Maria Barbosa-Filho
%A Fran£¿ois No£¿l
%A George Emmanuel C. de Miranda
%A B¨¢rbara Viviana de Oliveira Santos
%A Magna Suzana Alexandre-Moreira
%J Molecules
%P 14699-14709
%D 2014
%I MDPI AG
%R 10.3390/molecules190914699
%X In previous works we showed that oral administration of caulerpine, a bisindole alkaloid isolated from algae of the genus Caulerpa, produced antinociception when assessed in chemical and thermal models of nociception. In this study, we evaluated the possible mechanism of action of this alkaloid in mice, using the writhing test. The antinociceptive effect of caulerpine was not affected by intraperitoneal (i.p.) pretreatment of mice with naloxone, flumazenil, l-arginine or atropine, thus discounting the involvement of the opioid, GABAergic, l-arginine-nitric oxide and (muscarinic) cholinergic pathways, respectively. In contrast, i.p. pretreatment with yohimbine, an ¦Á 2-adrenoceptor antagonist, or tropisetron, a 5-HT 3 antagonist, significantly blocked caulerpine-induced antinociception. These results suggest that caulerpine exerts its antinociceptive effect in the writhing test via pathways involving ¦Á 2-adrenoceptors and 5-HT 3 receptors. In summary, this alkaloid could be of interest in the development of new dual-action analgesic drugs.
%K caulerpine
%K antinociception
%K adrenergic pathway
%K serotonergic pathway
%U http://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/19/9/14699