Majonoside-R2, a major constituent of Vietnamese ginseng, attenuates opioid-induced antinociception

The effects of majonoside-R2 on antinociceptive responses caused by the mu-opioid receptor agonist morphine and the selective kappa-opioid receptor agonist U-50, 488H were examined by the tail-pinch test in mice. Intraperitoneal (IP) or intracerebroventricular (ICV) injection of majonoside-R2 (3.1-6.2 mg/kg, IP or 5-10 micrograms/mouse, ICV) and diazepam (0.1-0.5 mg/kg, IP or 0.5-1.0 microgram/mouse, ICV), as well as an opioid receptor antagonist naloxone (2 mg/kg, IP or 5 micrograms/mouse, ICV), dose-dependently attenuated the antinociception caused by subcutaneously administered morphine and U-50,488H. Moreover, when co-administered ICV or intrathecally (IT) with morphine (4 micrograms/mouse) or U-50,488H (60 micrograms/mouse), majonoside-R2 (5-20 micrograms/mouse) also exhibited antagonism against the antinociceptive action of these opioid receptor agonists in the tail-pinch test. The inhibitory effects of majonoside-R2 (10 micrograms/mouse, ICV) and diazepam (1 microgram/mouse, ICV) were reversed by flumazenil (2.5 micrograms/mouse, ICV), a selective benzodiazepine receptor antagonist, and picrotoxin (0.25 microgram/mouse, ICV), a GABA-gated chloride channel blocker. These results suggest that majonoside-R2 attenuates the opioid-induced antinociception by acting at the spinal and supraspinal levels, and that the GABAA receptor complex at the supraspinal level is involved in the effect of ICV administered majonoside-R2.