Different effects of capsaicin on I(A) and I(K) in pain-conduct neurons of rats / 华中科技大学学报（医学）（英德文版）

ABSTRACT

The different effects of capsaicin on I(A) and I(K) currents in pain-conduct neurons of trigeminal ganglia (TG) were investigated. In cultured TG neurons of rats, whole-cell patch clamp techniques were used to record the I(A) and I(K) before and after capsaicin perfused. Results revealed that 1 micromol/L capsaicin could inhibit the amplitude of I(A) by 48.2% (n = 10, P 0.05). Ten micromol/L capsaicin could significantly inhibit the amplitude of I(A) by 93.2% (n = 8, P < 0.01), but only slightly inhibit the amplitude of I(K) by 13.2% (n = 7, P < 0.05). Neither 1 micromol/L nor 10 micromol/L capsaicin had effects on the active curve of I(A) and I(K). It was concluded that capsaicin could selectively inhibit the I(A) current, and this effect might involve in the analgesic mechanisms of capsaicin.