Potencial antidepressivo e analgésico do 2-(3,4-dimetoxi-fenil)-4,5-diidro-1H-imidazol (2-DMPI) em camundongos

Abstract

Depression and chronic pain coexist in several patients and may be modulated by the same neurotransmitter systems. In this context, various studies have demonstrated that antidepressants from the class of the inhibitors of monoamine oxidase-A (MAO-A) enzyme presented antinociceptive effect in different pain models in experimental animals, as well as analgesic action in clinic studies. Thus, in the present study were evaluated the MAO-A inhibitory properties, as well as the antidepressant and antinociceptive potential of the novel imidazoline compound 2-(3,4-dimethoxy-phenyl)-4,5-dihydro-1H-imidazole (2-DMPI) in mice. 2-DMPI showed to be a mixed, reversible and preferential MAO-A inhibitor. The treatment with 2-DMPI (100-1000 μmol/kg, s.c.) produced an antidepressant-like effect in the tail suspension test without affecting motor activity of the animals. The mice treated with 2-DMPI showed a decrease in serotonin and dopamine turnover in specific brain regions, suggesting that the antidepressant-like effect of this compound was mediated by serotonergic and dopaminergic systems. This was confirmed by experiments showing that the antidepressant-like effect of 2-DMPI was abolished by pretreatment with serotonergic and dopaminergic receptor antagonists. In order to evaluate a possible antinociceptive action of 2-DMPI, a mice model of neuropathic pain, induced by chronic constriction injury (CCI) of the sciatic nerve was used. It was observed that mice submitted to CCI presented an increase in MAO-A activity in lumbar spinal cord compared with sham-submitted mice and that the treatment with 2-DMPI (30-300 μmol/kg, s.c.) reversed the CCI-induced mechanical hyperalgesia. Furthermore, the antihyperalgesic effect of 2-DMPI was reversed by intrathecal injection of the serotonergic 5-HT3 receptor antagonist ondansetron (10 μg/site). These results suggest that 2-DMPI, due to its ability to modulate MAO-A activity and, consequently, the monoaminergic systems, could be a promising prototype to the development of new drugs with antidepressant and analgesic properties.