Substance P, opioid, and catecholamine systems in the mouse central nervous system (CNS)

摘要

In an article in this issue of PNAS, Jasmin et al. (1) provide new evidence that noradrenaline is a key neurotrans- mitter in the endogenous pain inhibitory systems in the central nervous system (CNS) of the mouse. They show that this adrenergic inhibitory system interacts with that part of the sensory nociceptive system by using the neuropeptide sub- stance P in a mutually antagonistic man- ner. They conclude that substance P, when unopposed by tonic release of nor- adrenaline, is the major factor underly- ing thermal hyperalgesia. Jasmin et al. also present evidence that the reduced opioid efficacy seen in the absence of noradrenaline is the result of increased NK1 receptor stimulation by endogenous substance P.