Spinal pathways mediating tonic, coeruleospinal, and raphe-spinal descending inhibition in the rat.

1. The contribution of midline medullary bulbospinal neurons to descending inhibition from the locus coeruleus (LC) and the funicular trajectories of coeruleo- and raphe-spinal fibers mediating inhibition of spinal nociceptive transmission were examined in different experiments. Extracellular recordings of lumbar dorsal horn neurons were made in deeply pentobarbital-anesthetized, paralyzed rats. All units studied responded to electrical stimulation of the ipsilateral tibial nerve at intensities supramaximal to activate A-alpha-delta- and C-fibers and to mechanical and heat (50 degrees C) stimuli of the glabrous skin of the ipsilateral hind foot. Parallel studies were done in lightly pentobarbital-anesthetized rats utilizing the nociceptive tail-flick (TF) reflex. 2. To examine the contribution of bulbospinal neurons in the nucleus raphe magnus (NRM) to descending coeruleospinal inhibition, lidocaine microinjections were made into the NRM to produce a time-limited, reversible block. Lidocaine microinjections into the NRM effectively blocked NRM stimulation-produced inhibition of the TF reflex (prelidocaine stimulation thresholds were increased two to three times), but did not affect stimulation-produced inhibition from the LC. 3. In parallel electrophysiological studies, stimulation in the NRM inhibited heat-evoked dorsal horn unit activity to 31% of control, whereas stimulation in the LC/SC inhibited heat-evoked activity of the same units to 30% of control. Following NRM lidocaine microinjections, stimulation at the same intensity in the NRM no longer inhibited heat-evoked activity (93% of control), confirming the efficacy of the lidocaine block. LC stimulation-produced inhibition, however, was not affected by blockage of the NRM; heat-evoked unit activity was inhibited by LC stimulation to 39% of control. 4. The effects of ipsilateral and bilateral ventrolateral funiculus (VLF) lidocaine microinjections on spontaneous and heat-evoked unit activity were examined in other experiments. Spontaneous activity increased following ipsilateral VLF lidocaine microinjections for 13/18 units; decreases and no change in spontaneous activity were observed for three and two units, respectively. Heat-evoked unit activity was increased significantly following ipsilateral VLF lidocaine microinjections.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)