Morphine peripheral analgesia depends on activation of the PI3Kgamma/AKT/nNOS/NO/KATP signaling pathway.

Morphine is one of the most prescribed and effective drugs used for the treatment of acute and chronic pain conditions. In addition to its central effects, morphine can also produce peripheral analgesia. However, the mechanisms underlying this peripheral action of morphine have not yet been fully elucidated. Here, we show that the peripheral antinociceptive effect of morphine is lost in neuronal nitric-oxide synthase null mice and that morphine induces the production of nitric oxide in primary nociceptive neurons. The activation of the nitric-oxide pathway by morphine was dependent on an initial stimulation of PI3Kgamma/AKT protein kinase B (AKT) and culminated in increased activation of K(ATP) channels. In the latter, this intracellular signaling pathway might cause a hyperpolarization of nociceptive neurons, and it is fundamental for the direct blockade of inflammatory pain by morphine. This understanding offers new targets for analgesic drug development.

Chronic exercise partially restores the transmural heterogeneity of action potential duration in left ventricular myocytes of spontaneous hypertensive rats.

Hypertension leads to electrophysiological changes in the heart. Chronic exercise induced by a treadmill-running programme (TRP) is considered a potential non-pharmacological treatment for hypertension and may have implications in heart remodelling. However, it is not known whether the TRP is able to improve the electrophysiological properties of the heart in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). In the present study, we investigated whether TRP affects the electrical properties of left ventricular (LV) myocytes isolated from different layers of the LV wall of SHR. Male SHR were divided into exercised (chronic treadmill running for 8 weeks; CEX-SHR) and sedentary (SED-SHR) groups. Age-matched normotensive Wistar male rats served as controls. Action potentials (AP) and transient outward potassium current (I(to) ) were recorded in subepicardial (EPI) and subendocardial (ENDO) LV myocytes. In normotensive controls, AP duration (APD) was longer in ENDO cells than in EPI cells. This sort of transmural heterogeneity in the LV was not observed in sedentary SHR and was partially restored in SHR subject to chronic exercise. This partial recovery was associated with an increase in I(to) density in EPI cells but not in ENDO cells. The electrophysiological changes observed in the CEX-SHR group were not accompanied by either amelioration of systolic blood pressure or a reduction in heart hypertrophy. These findings imply that a TRP is able to improve the electrophysiological parameters of isolated cardiac myocytes in SHR. This sort of adaptation contributes to the overall improvement of heart physiology in this model.

Novel insights into the development of chagasic cardiomyopathy: role of PI3Kinase/NO axis.

BACKGROUND: Chagas' disease is one of the leading causes of heart failure in Latin American countries. Despite its great social impact, there is no direct evidence in the literature explaining the development of heart failure in Chagas' disease. Therefore, the main objective of the study was to investigate the development of the Chagas' disease towards its chronic phase and correlate with modifications in the cellular electrophysiological characteristics of the infected heart. METHODS AND RESULTS: Using a murine model of Chagas' disease, we confirmed and extended previous findings of altered electrocardiogram and echocardiogram in this cardiomyopathy. The observed changes in the electrocardiogram were correlated with the prolonged action potential and reduced transient outward potassium current density. Reduced heart function was associated with remodeling of intracellular calcium handling, altered extracellular matrix content, and to a set of proteins involved in the control of cellular contractility in ventricular myocytes. Furthermore, disruption of calcium homeostasis was partially due to activation of the PI3Kinase/nitric oxide signaling pathway. Finally, we propose a causal link between the inflammatory mediators and heart remodeling during chagasic cardiomyopathy. CONCLUSION: Altogether our results demonstrate that heart failure in Chagas' disease may occur due to electrical and mechanical remodeling of cardiac myocytes, and suggest that AKT/PI3K/NO axis could be an important pharmacological target to improve the disease outcome.