Antinociceptive effects of carbidopa levodopa on normal rats and Parkinson's disease mice.

Abstract

Carbidopa levodopa is widely used to ameliorate motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. Pain is one of common symptoms of PD. The aim of this experiment is to study antinociceptive effects of carbidopa levodopa on normal rats and PD mice. Rats were intragastrically treated with carbidopa levodopa and the hind paw withdrawal latency (HWL) was investigated. PD mouse model was prepared with MPTP and then the antinociceptive effects of carbidopa levodopa on PD mice were evaluated. In normal rats, the HWL to thermal stimulus was augmented after carbidopa levodopa administration (p<0.05 or p<0.01) and carbidopa levodopa increased the HWL (p<0.05 or p<0.01) to mechanical stimulus. In PD mice, carbidopa levodopa elevated the HWL of the thermal stimulus in PD mice (p<0.05). Furthermore, the HWL in the inflammatory pain of PD mice was also increased by carbidopa levodopa treatmet (p<0.01). The current findings indicate that carbidopa levodopa has an antinociceptive effects in normal rats and PD mice. The analgesic effect of carbidopa levodopa on patients with or without PD is worth studying in further research.