δ-opioid receptors and nitric oxide mediate the analgesic effect of Crotalus durissus terrificus snake venom

The antinociceptive effect of Crotalus durissus terrificus venom was investigated in a model of inflammatory hyperalgesia induced by carrageenin. The rat paw pressure test was applied before and 3 h after the intraplantar (i.pl.) injection of carrageenin. The venom administered per os before and 1 or 2 h after carrageenin blocked hyperalgesia. When carrageenin was injected in both hind paws and naloxone into one hind paw, antinociception was abolished only in the paw injected with naloxone. D-Phe-Cys-Tyr-D-Trp-Orn-Thr-Pen-Thr amide (CTOP) and nor-binaltorphimine, antagonists of mu- and kappa-opioid receptors, respectively, did not alter the effect of the venom. N, N-diallyl-Tyr-Aib-Aib-Phe-Leu (ICI 174,864), an antagonist of delta-opioid receptors, antagonised this effect. Prolonged administration of the venom did not induce tolerance to this antinociceptive effect. N-G-methyl-L-arginine (L-NMMA) and methylene blue, inhibitors of nitric oxide synthase and soluble guanylate cyclase, respectively, injected i.pl., antagonised antinociception. These data indicate that both delta-opioid receptors and nitric oxide participate in the mediation of the peripheral antinociceptive effect of C. durissus terrificus venom. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.