NSAID antinociception measured in a chemical and a thermal assay in mice

The antinociceptive activity of several nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) that were administered either intraperitoneally or intrathecally was assessed in mice by two algesiometric tests. The first was the writhing test, which assessed the abdominal constrictions that were induced by intraperitoneal acetic acid (a chemical test), and the second was the tail flick test, which measured pain responses to heat stimuli. The corresponding effective doses and their relative potencies were compared because these tests use different nociceptive stimuli with different transmission pathways. The intraperitoneal and intrathecal dose-response curves for the antinociception induced by every NSAID that was tested were parallel in the writhing test. In the tail flick test, however, only the intraperitoneal and intrathecal dose-response curves for ketoprofen, piroxicam, naproxen, nimesulide, paracetamol and diclofenac were parallel. The results obtained in this study confirm that NSAIDs possess different abilities to induce inhibition of cyclooxygenase, and they can be indirectly assessed by their different antinociceptive activities, depending on the algesiometric assays that are used. The antinociception of most NSAIDs might involve central mechanisms. The findings demonstrate the increasing importance of the spinal cord in processing and modulating nociceptive input, because intrathecal administration of NSAIDs is always more effective (in terms of potency) than systemic administration; thus, the antinociceptive efficacy of NSAIDs strongly depends on the algesiometric assay that is used and on the type of the nociceptive stimulus to which the test subject is exposed.