Brosnan RJ, Cenani A, Costa LR, Condy P, Snell C. Analgesic effect of the mint terpenoid L-carvone in sheep.
Vet Anaesth Analg 2023;
50:459-465. [PMID:
37500407 DOI:
10.1016/j.vaa.2023.06.004]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2023] [Revised: 06/23/2023] [Accepted: 06/26/2023] [Indexed: 07/29/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether L-carvone increases the voltage threshold response to a noxious electrical stimulus in sheep.
STUDY DESIGN
Prospective, blinded, randomized, crossover experimental study.
ANIMALS
A group of six healthy adult sheep.
METHODS
Sheep were instrumented with cranial dorsothoracic subcutaneous copper electrodes. A stimulator delivered a 10 ms square-wave stimulus at 50 pps starting at 0.1 V with a 0.2 V second-1 ramp. The stimulus stopped once two observers who were blinded to treatment noted a behavioral pain response or when a 15 V cut-off was reached. Next, 0.15 mL kg-1 of either a 50% L-carvone solution or a saline-vehicle control was administered intramuscularly, and electrical threshold responses were measured every 5-15 minutes over a 6 hour period using methods identical to the baseline. One week following the first treatment (L-carvone or control), sheep were studied using identical methods with the second treatment (control or L-carvone). Drug and time effects were evaluated using a two-way repeated measures analysis of variance, and pairwise comparisons were evaluated with Holm-Sidák tests with values of p < 0.05 considered significant.
RESULTS
L-carvone significantly increased voltage threshold responses for most time points up to 75 minutes compared with baseline and with saline control. The last time point with a significantly different response between L-carvone and saline treatments was 5 hours after drug administration. The saline-vehicle control decreased voltage threshold responses at several time points after 3 hours.
CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE
Intramuscular L-carvone is analgesic in sheep, although the ethanol-propylene glycol vehicle may cause mild hyperalgesia. This study demonstrates that a food-derived compound can be used to relieve pain in a food-producing animal.
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