A brief report of student research: mechanism of analgesic effect and efficacy and anesthesia interactions of kava in the male Sprague-Dawley rat

Dimens Crit Care Nurs. 2009 May-Jun;28(3):138-40. doi: 10.1097/DCC.0b013e31819af09d.

Abstract

Use of herbal supplements in the United States continues to grow, and it is estimated that approximately 1 in 3 Americans use unconventional therapies to relieve pain. Eight herbal supplements have been identified that could pose the greatest potential risks in surgical patients. Among these is kava, which is used for a wide spectrum of therapeutic properties, including sedative, anxiolytic, analgesic, and neuroprotective effects. The purpose of this investigation was to examine how kava may modulate pain pathways and how it may interact with morphine using the hot-plate analgesia technique.

MeSH terms

  • Analgesics, Opioid / pharmacology*
  • Anesthetics / pharmacology
  • Animals
  • Dietary Supplements / adverse effects
  • Dietary Supplements / statistics & numerical data
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Drug Evaluation, Preclinical
  • Herb-Drug Interactions
  • Kava / adverse effects*
  • Male
  • Morphine / pharmacology*
  • Nurse Anesthetists
  • Pain / prevention & control*
  • Phytotherapy / adverse effects*
  • Phytotherapy / methods
  • Phytotherapy / statistics & numerical data
  • Prospective Studies
  • Random Allocation
  • Rats
  • Rats, Sprague-Dawley
  • Receptors, Opioid, mu* / agonists
  • Receptors, Opioid, mu* / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Receptors, Opioid, mu* / drug effects
  • Risk Factors
  • Single-Blind Method
  • Time Factors

Substances

  • Analgesics, Opioid
  • Anesthetics
  • Receptors, Opioid, mu
  • Morphine