[Analgesic action of microinjection of neurokinin A into the lateral reticular nucleus and nucleus raphe magnus in rats].

Using the microinjection technique, the analgesic effect of neurokinin A (NKA) microinjected into the lateral reticular nucleus (LRN) and nucleus raphe magnus (NRM) was investigated in lightly pentobarbital-anesthetized rats using tail flick latency (TFL) as an index. Microinjection of NKA (0.5 microgram/0.5 microliter) into LRN significantly increased TFL lasting for 10 min (n = 12, P < 0.001). Microinjection of the same amount of NKA into NRM also produced evident increase in TFL for 5 min (n = 13, P < 0.001). The results indicate that NKA modulates pain reaction in both LRN and NRM in rats.