B vitamins suppress spinal dorsal horn nociceptive neurons in the cat.

To explore the role of vitamin B in neural mechanisms of analgesia, we investigated the effect of a compound of vitamins B1, B6 and B12 (Neurobion, E. Merck) on the nociceptive responses of single neurons in the spinal cord dorsal horn in anesthetized cats. Intrathecal superfusion of Neurobion, using a small pool placed on the spinal surface, produced a significant dose-dependent depression in the responses evoked by noxious skin heating (50 or 52 degrees C, 10 s) of hindfoot skin, but not of spontaneous activity in dorsal horn neurons. These results indicate that the therapeutic effect of vitamin B compounds in the clinical management of pain may involve a suppression of nociceptive transmission at the spinal level.