Dextromethorphan shows efficacy in experimental pain (nociception) and opioid tolerance

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Updated: Nov 6, 2026

Assessment of Morphine-induced Hyperalgesia and Analgesic Tolerance in Mice Using Thermal and Mechanical Nociceptive Modalities
07:23

Assessment of Morphine-induced Hyperalgesia and Analgesic Tolerance in Mice Using Thermal and Mechanical Nociceptive Modalities

Published on: July 29, 2014

K J Elliott1, M Brodsky, A Hyanansky

  • 1Department of Neurology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY 10021, USA.

Neurology
|December 1, 1995
PubMed

Insights

Dextromethorphan, an N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist, shows promise for pain relief. It has demonstrated analgesic effects and can prevent tolerance to other pain medications, suggesting its potential for treating zoster-associated neuralgia.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Pharmacology
  • Pain Research

Background:

  • Dextromethorphan is an oral antitussive and a clinically available N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist.
  • NMDA receptors play a role in pain signaling and the development of analgesic tolerance.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the potential analgesic efficacy of dextromethorphan in zoster-associated neuralgia.
  • To explore dextromethorphan's effects on pain pathways and opiate tolerance.

Main Methods:

  • Review of existing experimental data on dextromethorphan's pharmacological actions.
  • Analysis of dextromethorphan's effects in the formalin test for pain.
  • Examination of dextromethorphan's impact on c-fos proto-oncogene expression.
  • Assessment of dextromethorphan's role in opiate analgesic tolerance models.

Main Results:

  • Dextromethorphan exhibits analgesic efficacy in experimental pain models.
  • It blocks nociceptive activation of the c-fos proto-oncogene.
  • Dextromethorphan prevents and reverses opiate analgesic tolerance in experimental settings.

Conclusions:

  • Experimental data suggest dextromethorphan possesses analgesic properties relevant to neuropathic pain.
  • Further investigation in controlled clinical trials is warranted to confirm its efficacy for zoster-associated neuralgia.

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