Investigation of antinociceptive effects of vitamin D and EB1089 in rats

Objectives: The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of vitamin D on pain threshold in rats. In addition, to examine, whether EB1089, which is a vitamin D receptor agonist, can contribute to this mechanism by increasing the effects of the receptor. Methods: In the study, 24 male Wistar Albino rats of 3 months, an average of 240–260 g, were used. The animals were randomly divided into three groups, eight animals in each group. Groups; control, vitamin D (10 µg/kg), and EB1089 (10 µg/kg). Tail flick and hot plate tests were used to evaluate the antinociceptive effect. Measurements were taken at 0 min before drug administration and at 30, 60, and 90 min after drug administration and times were recorded in seconds. Serotonin levels were also analyzed by ELISA method in plasma obtained from intracardiac blood samples taken at the end of the experiment. Results: Vitamin D and EB1089 significantly increased the time to endure pain in the tail flick test compared to the control group (p<0.05). In the hot plate test, EB1089 group significantly extended the pain threshold compared to the control group (p<0.05), while the vitamin D group did not create a significant difference, although it had a higher latency than the control group (p>0.05). There was no significant difference between the groups in terms of serotonin levels (p>0.05). Conclusion: As a result of our study, the administration of vitamin D and EB1089 increased the pain threshold in animals and increased pain resistance.