The synergistic antinociceptive effect of lornoxicam in combination with tramadol

Abstract

Introduction: One of the most important priorities in therapy is pain control. Therefore, many different groups of drugs are being used for this purpose, primarily opioid analgesics and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Opioid analgesic tramadol, by binding to specific receptors, modulates the perception and response to painful stimuli and inhibits transmitting and further processing of pain impulses. Lornoxicam, which belongs to the oxicam class of NSAIDs, is a non-selective cyclooxygenase inhibitor with strong analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects, and better tolerance profile. Preliminary research, which requires further verification, suggests that lornoxicam may be a better alternative or adjunctive therapy to opioid analgesics in the treatment of moderate to severe pain. The aim of this study was to investigate antinociceptive effects of lornoxicam, as well as the combination of lornoxicam with tramadol.
Methods: Analgesic effect of combination of lornoxicam and tramadol or lornoxicam applied alone was examined on female albino mice, using a hot plate method. Measurements were made 30, 60, 90 and 120 minutes after intraperitoneal and subcutaneous administration, in dose of 10 mg/kg.
Results: Combination of lornoxicam and tramadol, applied intraperitoneally, increases the threshold of sensitivity to painful stimuli, which was not the case with subcutaneous administration.
Conclusions: Lornoxicam significantly increases analgesic effect when applied intraperitoneally in combination with tramadol. On the other hand, lornoxicam in combination with tramadol, did not increase the threshold of sensitivity to painful stimuli with significant difference, after subcutaneous administration