WHOLE BODY STATIC MAGNETIC FIELD EXPOSURE INCREASES THERMAL NOCICEPTIVE THRESHOLD IN THE SNAIL, HELIX POMATIA

We investigated the effect of homogeneous and inhomogeneous static magnetic field (SMF) exposure on the thermal nociceptive threshold of snail in the hot plate test (43 degrees C). Both homogeneous (hSMF) and inhomogeneous (iSMF) SMF increased the thermo-nociceptive threshold: 40.2%, 29.2%, or 41.7% after an exposure of 20, 30, or 40 min hSMF by p<0.001, p<0.0001, or p<0.001, and 32.7% or 46.2% after an exposure of 20 or 40 min iSMF by p<0.05 or p<0.0001. These results suggest that SMF has an antinociceptive effect in snail. On the other hand, naloxone as an atypical opioid antagonist in an amount of 1 mu g/g was found to significantly decrease the thermo-nociceptive threshold (41.9% by p<0.002), which could be antagonized by hSMF exposure implying that hSMF exerts its antinociceptive effect partly via opioid receptors.