Tadalafil analgesia in experimental arthritis involves suppression of intra-articular TNF release

We investigated the effect of the phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor, tadalafil, on the acute hypernociception in rat models of arthritis.

Rats were treated with either an intra-articular injection of zymosan (1 mg) or surgical transection of the anterior cruciate ligament (as an osteoarthritis model). Controls received saline intra-articular or sham operation respectively. Joint pain was evaluated using the articular incapacitation test measured over 6 h following zymosan or between 4 and 7 days after anterior cruciate ligament transection. Cell counts, tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1 (IL-1), and the chemokine, cytokine-induced neutrophil chemoattractant-1 (CINC-1) were measured in joint exudates 6 h after zymosan. Groups received tadalafil (0.02-0.5 mg·kg⁻¹ per os) or saline 2 h after intra-articular zymosan. Other groups received the µ-opioid receptor antagonist naloxone or the cGMP inhibitor 1H-[1,2,4] oxadiazolo [4,3-a] quinoxalin-1-one (ODQ) before tadalafil.

Tadalafil dose-dependently inhibited hypernociception in zymosan and osteoarthritis models. In zymosan-induced arthritis, tadalafil significantly decreased cell influx and TNF-α release but did not alter IL-1 or CINC-1 levels. Pretreatment with ODQ but not with naloxone prevented the anti-inflammatory effects of tadalafil.

Therapeutic oral administration of tadalafil provided analgesia mediated by guanylyl cyclase and was independent of the release of endogenous opioids. This effect of tadalafil was associated with a decrease in neutrophil influx and TNF-α release in inflamed joints.