Abstract

Antidepressants, mainly tricyclic antidepressants have been found useful for the treatment of chronic pain. Because of numerous undesirable side effects of traditional tricyclic antidepressants, SSRIs with favorable side effects profile are preferred. The purpose of the study is to evaluate antinociceptive activity of paroxetine in albino mice and to compare antinociceptive activity of paroxetine with morphine in albino mice. To delineate the possible mechanism of antinociceptive activity of paroxetine, paroxetine is producing its antinociceptive activity by acting through both mechanisms (opioid receptor pathway and 5-HT3 pathway) in this study. Study revealed that paroxetine has promising antinociceptive activity which needs to be explored. This drug can be used as add on therapy for treatment of pain with lower doses of conventional analgesic drugs.

Key words: Paroxetine, Albino mice, Antinociceptive, Morphine, ANOVA test