Nitecapone reduces development and symptoms of neuropathic pain after spinal nerve ligation in rats

Mechanical and cold allodynia developed in all study groups. Both nitecapone treatments significantly reduced mechanical allodynia and withdrawal thresholds were 80-95% higher compared with the control group. In the acetone test, both nitecapone groups also showed less signs of cold allodynia than the control groups. In nitecapone-naïve animals a single dose of nitecapone also reduced mechanical allodynia on the 14th day after the surgery. Nitecapone reduced the symptoms of neuropathic pain after the SNL, which is in line with the earlier study. Our results suggest that nitecapone and other COMT inhibitors should be studied further in the treatment of neuropathic pain.