An imprinted potentiometric sensor was developed for direct and selective determination of gabapentin. Sensor is based on carbon paste electrode adapted by graphene oxide that is decorated with silver nanoparticles and mixed with molecularly imprinted polymers nanoparticles using gabapentin as a template molecule. The synthesized nanoparticles were characterized by Fourier transmission infrared spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. Under optimal experimental conditions, the studied sensor exhibited high selectivity and sensitivity with LOD of 4.8×10–11 mol L–1. It provided a wide linearity range from 1×10–10 to 1×10–3 mol L–1and high stability for more than 3 mo. The sensor was effectively used for the determination of gabapentin in pharmaceutical tablets and spiked plasma samples.

Previous clinical studies have demonstrated that gabapentin, a drug that binds to the voltage-gated calcium channel α2δ1 subunit proteins, is effective in the management of neuropathic pain, but there is limited evidence that addresses the participation of glial cells in the antiallodynic effects of this drug. The present study investigated the participation of glial cells in the anti-nociceptive effects of gabapentin in rats with trigeminal neuropathic pain produced by mal-positioned dental implants. Under anesthesia, the left mandibular second molar was extracted and replaced by a miniature dental implant to induce injury to the inferior alveolar nerve. Mal-positioned dental implants significantly decreased the air-puff thresholds both ipsilateral and contralateral to the injury site. Gabapentin was administered intracisternally beginning on postoperative day (POD) 1 or on POD 7 for three days. Early or late treatment with 0.3, 3, or 30 μg of gabapentin produced significant anti-allodynic effect in the rats with mal-positioned dental implants. On POD 9, in the mal-positioned dental implants group, OX-42, a microglia marker, and GFAP, an astrocyte marker, were found to be up-regulated in the medullary dorsal horn, compared with the naive group. However, the intracisternal administration of gabapentin (30 μg) failed to reduce the number of activated microglia or astrocytes in the medullary dorsal horn. These findings suggest that gabapentin produces significant antinociceptive effects, which are not mediated by the inhibition of glial cell function in the medullary dorsal horn, in a rat model of trigeminal neuropathic pain.