Influence of amitriptyline on GLAST in spinal cord of rat in neuropathic pain / 中国药理学通报

ABSTRACT

Aim To investigate influence of amitriptyline on glutamate-aspartate transporter(GLAST)in spinal cord of rats after spared nerve injury.Methods 60 male SD rats were randomly divided into 4 groups with 15 rats in eachcontrol(A),SNI(B),amitriptyline(C),SNI+amitriptyline(D).Respectively 4 groups were treated with intraperitoneal injections of 0.2 ml saline(A and B),10 mg?kg-1 amitriptyline(C and D),bid.The L3～L6 segments of the spinal cord were isolated in 1,3 and 5 days after surgery.Expression of GLAST was determined by western blot and semiquantitative RT-PCR.Also,changes of mechanical withdrawal threshold(MWT)were measured.Results Compared to control,a markedly decreased MWT was showed in group B and the expression of GLAST at both protein and mRNA level increased firstly and decreased later.There were no changes of MWT in group C,but the expression of GLAST increased gradually.Rat MWT in group D did not change any more at the third days after surgery.In addition,the expression of GLAST in group D was higher than control group and kept stable.Conclusions Amitriptyline could increase the expression of GLAST,which may be one of its mechanisms in the treatment of neuropathic pain.