Enhancement of morphine analgesia by the GABAB agonist baclofen

Neuroscience. 1995 Nov;69(2):345-9. doi: 10.1016/0306-4522(95)00335-g.

Abstract

Opioid-GABAergic interactions for the treatment of post-operative pain were investigated in two double-blind, placebo-controlled experiments. We first studied the effect of pre-operatively administered baclofen, a GABAB receptor agonist, on the analgesia produced by intravenously administered morphine, a predominantly mu-opioid analgesic. In a separate trial, we studied the effect of baclofen on the analgesia produced by pentazocine, a predominantly kappa-opioid analgesic. While baclofen alone did not affect the level of post-operative pain, morphine analgesia was significantly enhanced by baclofen compared to placebo. In contrast, baclofen did not affect the level of pentazocine analgesia: however, females receiving pentazocine showed significantly greater analgesia than males.

Publication types

  • Clinical Trial
  • Randomized Controlled Trial
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Analysis of Variance
  • Baclofen / therapeutic use*
  • Double-Blind Method
  • Drug Therapy, Combination
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Morphine / therapeutic use*
  • Pain, Postoperative / drug therapy*
  • Pentazocine / therapeutic use
  • Time Factors

Substances

  • Morphine
  • Baclofen
  • Pentazocine