The anterior pretectal nucleus participates as a relay station in the glutamate-, but not morphine-induced antinociception from the dorsal raphe nucleus in rats.

The anterior pretectal nucleus (APtN) and the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) are involved in descending pathways that control noxious inputs to the spinal cord and participate in the normal physiological response to noxious stimulation. Evidence has also been provided for the involvement of the APtN acting as a relay station through which the DRN partly modulates spinal nociceptive messages. In the present study, the effects of microinjecting glutamate or morphine into the DRN on the latency for the tail withdrawal reflex after noxious heating of the skin were examined in rats in which hyperbaric lidocaine (5%), naloxone (a non-selective opioid antagonist) or methiothepin (a non-selective 5-HT(1) antagonist) was previously microinjected into the APtN. Microinjection of glutamate (38 nmol/0.25 microl) into the DRN evoked strong but short-lasting antinociception that was fully inhibited by the previous administration of lidocaine (0.25 microl), naloxone (2.7 nmol/0.25 microl), or methiothepin (1 nmol/0.25 microl). A smaller dose of methiothepin (0.5 nmol/0.25 microl) significantly reduced the effect of glutamate. Microinjection of morphine (7.5 nmol/0.25 microl) into the DRN evoked strong and long-lasting antinociception that was not significantly changed by previous microinjection of lidocaine into the APtN. These results confirm that APtN integrity is at least in part necessary for the antinociceptive effects of stimulating the DRN, and that at least opioid and 5-HT1 mechanisms in the APtN participate as neuromodulators in the DRN-APtN connection. The results demonstrate that the antinociceptive effects of stimulating the DRN-APtN path depend on the activation of cell bodies in the DRN that can be excited by the local administration of glutamate, but not morphine. The study also further supports the notion that the DRN is involved in both descending and ascending pain inhibitory systems.