Disclosure: Dr Colin S Goodchild and Dr Ian Cooke have shares in Relevare Inc, which holds the rights to commercialize new intellectual property arising from the research described in this article.
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Original Research Article
Flupirtine Enhances the Anti-Hyperalgesic Effects of Morphine in a Rat Model of Prostate Bone Metastasis
Article first published online: 18 OCT 2012
DOI: 10.1111/j.1526-4637.2012.01502.x
Wiley Periodicals, Inc
Additional Information
How to Cite
Kolosov, A., Goodchild, C. S., Williams, E. D. and Cooke, I. (2012), Flupirtine Enhances the Anti-Hyperalgesic Effects of Morphine in a Rat Model of Prostate Bone Metastasis. Pain Medicine, 13: 1444–1456. doi: 10.1111/j.1526-4637.2012.01502.x
Publication History
- Issue published online: 14 NOV 2012
- Article first published online: 18 OCT 2012
Funded by
- Victorian Government's Operational Infrastructure
- Abstract
- Article
- References
- Cited By
Keywords:
- Anti-Hyperalgesia;
- Bone Cancer Pain;
- Flupirtine;
- Isobolographic Analysis;
- Morphine
Abstract
Objective
Current treatments for cancer pain are often inadequate, particularly when metastasis to bone is involved. The addition to the treatment regimen of another drug that has a complementary analgesic effect may increase the overall analgesia without the necessity to increase doses, thus avoiding dose-related side effects. This project investigated the synergistic effect of the addition of the potassium channel (KCNQ2–3) modulator flupirtine to morphine treatment in a rat model of prostate cancer-induced bone pain.
Design
Syngeneic prostate cancer cells were injected into the right tibia of male Wistar rats under anesthesia. This led to expanding tumor within the bone in 2 weeks, together with the concurrent development of hyperalgesia to noxious heat. Paw withdrawal thresholds from noxious heat were measured before and after the maximum non-sedating doses of morphine and flupirtine given alone and in combinations. Dose-response curves for morphine (0.13–5.0 mg/kg ip) and flupirtine (1.25–10.0 mg/kg ip) given alone and in fixed-dose combinations were plotted and subjected to an isobolographic analysis.
Results
Both morphine (ED50 = 0.74 mg/kg) and flupirtine (ED50 = 3.32 mg/kg) caused dose-related anti-hyperalgesia at doses that did not cause sedation. Isobolographic analysis revealed that there was a synergistic interaction between flupirtine and morphine. Addition of flupirtine to morphine treatment improved morphine anti-hyperalgesia, and resulted in the reversal of cancer-induced heat hyperalgesia.
Conclusions
These results suggest that flupirtine in combination with morphine may be useful clinically to provide better analgesia at lower morphine doses in the management of pain caused by tumors growing in bone.