Pharmacological studies of centrifugation-induced analgesia

Subjecting rats to a brief period of centrifugal rotation produces a brief analgesia (1-2 min) that is similar to that produced by pretreatment with morphine. The effect of the morphine is blocked by naloxone, while that of the centrifugal rotation is only partially blocked by the same dose of naloxone. Cholinergic blocking agents such as scopolamine are also capable of partially blocking the rotational-induced analgesia. The combination of pretreatment with scopolamine plus naloxone is capable of completely blocking the rotational-induced analgesia, suggesting the involvement of both central cholinergic and endogenous opioid components.