Characteristics of analgesias induced by brief or prolonged stress

Some characteristics of the effects of brief and prolonged stress on tail-flick latency are described. The pharmacological profiles of the latency responses to 30 sec and 30 min footshock are strikingly different. Thus, the increase of tail-flick latency after 30 sec shock is unaffected by naloxone and enhanced by drugs which decrease 5HT or DA-dependent transmission, while the increase after 30 min shock is blocked by naloxone and also by the above drugs. The increased tail-flick latency after 30 sec shock only occurs if tail-flick latency is also determined before shock. This finding, together with the attenuation or enhancement of the post-shock response by drugs that similarly affect conditioned avoidance behavior, suggests that the increased latency after brief shock occurs through a mechanism that is related to passive avoidance learning. Finally, a new approach to the investigation of stress-induced analgesia is described in which neurochemical changes during prolonged immobilization stress are repeatedly monitored using cisternal CSF samples taken in parallel with tail-flick latency measurements.