EVALUATION OF MODULATORY ROLE OF GABAPENTIN AND MORPHINE IN ACUTE PAIN IN ALBINO RATS

The drugs morphine and gabapentin were tested upon the albino rats using two experimental methods- thermally and chemically induced pain (acute pain models). A brief review of literature on pain, its modulation mechanisms, classification of analgesics and their description, review of drugs used in this study and various methods of evaluation of analgesics has been described. This study evaluated and obtained results with morphine and Gabapentin individually and their combined effect, and compared their analgesic effects with the standard drug morphine. It was observed that the Gabapentin enhanced the analgesic effect of Morphine in the acute pain models. Gabapentin a well-tolerated novel antiepileptic with ant nociceptive effects and with a known safety profile could be considered as co adjuvant with Morphine in acute severe pain. However, this study gives an idea that by combining gabapentin with morphine, it might be possible to reduce the dose of Morphine to overcome its drug tolerance, dependence and respiratory depression, as both these drugs act through different pain modulating mechanisms. Further studies are needed to interpret the additive or synergistic effect of this combination.