Ketamine blocks enhancement of spinal long-term potentiation in chronic opioid treated rats

Long-term opioid treatment is associated with the development of hyperalgesia. In a rat model we wanted to study if chronic opioid treatment changed the induction and maintenance of spinal long-term potentiation (LTP), a form of hyperexcitability in the spinal cord. We also wanted to investigate if the clinically available NMDA receptor antagonist ketamine inhibited the effect of chronic opioid treatment on LTP.

The animals were randomized into four groups (saline, morphine 20 mg/kg/day, ketamine 20 mg/kg/day, morphine 20 mg/kg/day and ketamine 20 mg/kg/day). Drugs were given as continuous subcutaneous infusions by means of osmotic minipumps. After 7 days of treatment and during ongoing treatment single unit extracellular recordings were made from the lumbar deep dorsal horn under urethane anesthesia. Single electrical stimuli were applied to the sciatic nerve, and the C-fiber evoked responses of WDR neurons were recorded before and during 3 h following low frequency (3 Hz) electrical conditioning stimulation.

The potentiation of C-fiber evoked responses by conditioning stimulation was significantly increased in the morphine-treated group compared to the saline group, while there was no significant difference between the saline, the ketamine and the morphine/ketamine groups. The potentiated responses in the morphine/ketamine group were significantly reduced compared to the morphine group (P=0.01).

Our results indicate that animals treated with long-term opioid show amplification of stimulus-induced central sensitisation compared to opioid naïve animals. Ketamine inhibited the morphine-induced enhancement of LTP, supporting the role of ketamine in prevention of opioid induced hyperalgesia.