H. Păunescu 1, Oana Andreia Coman 2, Eugenia Panaitescu 3, Andreea Anca 4, Isabel Ghiţă 1, I. Fulga 5
1 Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacotherapy, UMF Carol Davila, Bucharest
2 Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacotherapy, UMF Carol Davila, Bucharest
3 Assistant Professor, Department of Medical Informatics and Biostatistics, UMF Carol Davila, Bucharest
4 Student, Faculty of Medicine, UMF Carol Davila, Bucharest
5 Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacotherapy, UMF Carol Davila, Bucharest
Abstract
Introduction. DMSO (dimethylsulfoxide) is frequently used in fundamental pharmacology as solvent for diff erent organic compounds, due to its amphipathic molecule, which is soluble in both aqueous and nonpolar, organic media. Aim. In the present experiment we tried to explore if DMSO has an analgesic eff ect per se in the writhing test, pure or diluted 1:1 in saline. If so, the question remains if it can be used without any problem as vehicle for nonpolar substances with a possible visceral analgesic effect. Materials and methods. Five groups of albino mice were tested with DMSO, pure or diluted in saline 1:1 vol/vol, metamizole sodium+saline and metamizole sodium+DMSO diluted in saline 1:1 vol/vol. The writhing test was performed 120 min after substances administration and the observation of writhes lasted for 5 minutes. Statistic analysis of data was made with the programs Excel and SPSS 15. Results and discussions. A statistically signifi cant diff erence between the tested groups was obtained using a nonparametric statistic test (Kruskal Wallis). DMSO pure had a signifi cant analgesic eff ect, while DMSO diluted 1:1 in saline did not. DMSO associated to metamizole sodium had a nonsignifi cant tendency to increase the analgesic eff ect of metamizole sodium in the writhing test. Conclusions. Th ese results raise the question of a possible interference of DMSO, used as vehicle, on the analgesic eff ects of other substances assayed in the writhing test.