Abstract
It has been suggested that lamina I cells may play a pre-eminent role in nociception and may therefore be subject to specific modulation from descending and segmental systems. Serotonin is one of the transmitters thought to be involved in descending control of nociception (see LeBars, 1988, for a recent review). The major part of the serotonergic input to the dorsal horn originates from the nucleus raphe magnus (NRM) and adjacent reticular formation (Bowker et al, 1982). The spinal cord, however, appears to contain more than one type of 5-HT receptor (Mitchell and Riley, 1985) suggesting complex 5-HT actions. The presence of three opioid receptor subtypes and a number of endogenous opioid peptides within the dorsal horn, also suggests a complex role for opioids in the processing of somatosensory information. The analgesic actions of µ, δ and κ agonists, administered intrathecally in behavioural studies, support this proposal (Schmauss and Yaksh, 1984). This study investigated the sites of action of opioid and 5-HT receptor subtypes on nociceptive transmission, in restricted laminae within the dorsal horn of the rat.
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References
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© 1989 Plenum Press, New York
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Hope, P.J., El-Yassir, N., Fleetwood-Walker, S.M., Mitchell, R. (1989). Opioid and Serotonergic Effects on Lamina I and Deeper Dorsal Horn Neurones. In: Cervero, F., Bennett, G.J., Headley, P.M. (eds) Processing of Sensory Information in the Superficial Dorsal Horn of the Spinal Cord. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0825-6_39
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0825-6_39
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
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