Background: Preclinical studies of intrathecal adenosine suggest it may be effective in the treatment of acute and chronic pain in humans, and preliminary studies in volunteers and patients with a Swedish formulation of adenosine suggests it may be effective in hypersensitivity states but not with acute noxious stimulation. The purpose of this study was to screen for efficacy of a different formulation of adenosine marketed in the US, using both acute noxious stimulation and capsaicin-evoked mechanical hypersensitivity.
Methods: Following Food and Drug Administration and institutional review board approval and written informed consent, 65 volunteers were studied in two trials: an open-label, dose-escalating trial with intrathecal adenosine doses of 0.25-2.0 mg and a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of adenosine, 2 mg. Cerebrospinal fluid was obtained for pharmacokinetic analysis, and pain ratings in response to acute heat stimuli and areas of mechanical hyperalgesia and allodynia after intradermal capsaicin injection were determined.
Results: Adenosine produced no effect on pain report to acute noxious thermal or chemical stimulation but reduced mechanical hyperalgesia and allodynia from intradermal capsaicin injection for at least 24 h. In contrast, residence time of adenosine in cerebrospinal fluid was short (< 4 h).
Conclusions: These results show selective inhibition by intrathecal adenosine of hypersensitivity, presumed to reflect central sensitization in humans after peripheral capsaicin injection. The long-lasting effect is consistent with that observed in preliminary reports of patients with chronic neuropathic pain and is not due to prolonged residence of adenosine in cerebrospinal fluid.