[Evaluation of analgesic effects of morphine, buprenorphine and pentazocine in rats receiving somatic and visceral stimulation].

The analgesic effects of morphine, buprenorphine and pentazocine examined by behavioral responses to tail-flick (TF) and colorectal distension (CD) were studied in rats. Animals were randomly divided into three groups; morphine (M) groups of 4 mg.kg-1 (n = 7), buprenorphine (B) groups of 0.03 mg.kg-1 (n = 8), pentazocine (P) groups of 3 mg.kg-1 (n = 8). After determinations of TF and CD values, animals were administered each analgesic intraperitoneally, and both procedures were repeated every 5 minutes until 40 minutes. Three drugs produced an almost same degree of increase in pain threshold for TF; % maximum possible effects (%MPEs) were approximately 30%. Similar patterns of increase in pain thresholds for CD were observed in M and B groups; %MPEs were approximately 20%. In contrast, P groups showed a significant increase in thresholds for CD compared to M and B groups; 20 minutes after intraperitoneal administration of P, %MPE was approximately 50%. These results indicate that there are different antinociceptive effects to somatic and visceral stimuli between M, B and P, and suggest that selective opioid agonists modulate responses to different kinds of noxious stimuli.