부산대학교 도서관

The article presents a study which evaluates action of the local anesthetic bupivacaine and its ability to inhibit glutamatergic transmission in spinal dorsal horn neurons. Known to block sodium channels and interact with various receptors, bupivacaine is discussed with focus on the excitatory glutamatergic transmission in the superficial horn of the spinal cord, highlighting its importance for nociceptive processing. Combined with N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor agonists, the effect of the anesthetic is examined in lamina II neurons of adult rat spinal cord slices using whole-cell patch-clamp technique. It is concluded that the anti-nociceptive effect of bupivacaine is attributable to the direct modulation of the NMDA receptors in the spinal dorsal horn.