Excitatory effects of dihydrocapsaicin on nociceptive neurons in the medial thalamus.

Effects of capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin, which are pungent substances contained in Capsicum annuum L., were studied in 32 gallamine triethiodide immobilized cats. Single units were recorded from the medial thalamus using stainless steel microelectrodes. Of the 56 neurons recorded, 28 were responsive to both noxious (pinching) and non-noxious (hair and/or tapping) stimuli, while 16 were activated only by non-noxious stimuli. The remaining 12 neurons did not respond to any natural stimulus. Somatic receptive fields of nociceptive and non-nociceptive neurons were found to be widely distributed over the whole body. Twenty-six of 28 nociceptive neurons were activated by an intra-arterial administration of bradykinin, capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin. Fourteen of 16 non-nociceptive neurons were not activated by these substances. The mean latency and duration of bradykinin were 8.7 and 12.5 sec, those of capsaicin were 1.2 and 6.1 sec and those of dihydrocapsaicin were 1.3 and 5.0 sec, respectively. The increase of firing frequency produced by capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin was inhibited by morphine and this inhibition was antagonized by naloxone. However, the activity of medial thalamic neurons with non-noxious stimuli was not affected by these drugs. These results suggest that the pain-conducting fibers were selectively activated by capsaicinoids as well as by bradykinin.