Orally administered paracetamol does not act locally in the rat formalin test: evidence for a supraspinal, serotonin-dependent antinociceptive mechanism

BACKGROUND: The mechanism of action of paracetamol (acetaminophen) remains elusive because it is still under discussion as to whether it acts locally and/or centrally. The primary aim of this study was to clarify its site(s) of action (central and/or local) using the rat formalin test. METHODS: Spontaneous biting and licking of the injected paw following intraplantar injection of formalin 2.5% was monitored during the two phases of nociceptive behavior (0-5 and 20-40 min after injection), and the authors examined the antinociceptive activity of paracetamol following oral, intravenous, intraplantar, and intrathecal administrations as well as the reversion of this effect by an intrathecal injection of WAY 100,635, a selective 5-HT1A receptor antagonist. RESULTS: The oral administration of paracetamol (300, 400 mg/kg) reduced nociceptive behavior in both phases (400 mg/kg: 36.9 +/- 4.6% and 61.5 +/- 5.2% of inhibition in phases I and II, respectively, P <0.05), whereas lower doses reduced primarily the score of the second phase of the test. Only high doses of 10 to 20 mg/kg intraplantarly administered paracetamol, which were ineffective when administered subcutaneously, produced a significant but limited reduction in the early phase of the test and had no effect on the second phase or any antiinflammatory activity. Thus, this local effect did not seem to participate in the antinociceptive action of 400 mg/kg orally given paracetamol, which was totally blocked in both phases by an intrathecal injection of 40 microg WAY 100,635 per rat. Such an inhibition was not observed when paracetamol (200 microg per rat) was intrathecally coinjected with WAY 100,635, whereas the antinociceptive action of 5-HT (50 microg per rat, intrathecally) during both phases of pain was inhibited by WAY 100,635 (intrathecally). CONCLUSIONS: Orally administered paracetamol does not seem to exert any relevant local action in the formalin model of tonic pain in rats, but it might activate the serotonergic bulbospinal pathways via a supraspinal site of action that remains to be elucidated.