Motilin and its receptor are expressed in the dorsal horn in a rat model of acute incisional pain: Intrathecal motilin injection alleviates pain behaviors.

This study showed for the first time that MTL/MTLR are expressed in rats' spinal dorsal horn. Acute pain increased MTL/MTLR expression in the spinal dorsal horn. Also, for the first time, this study showed that motilin intrathecal injection alleviates pain in rat models of acute incisional pain. These results suggest that MTL/MTLR could be a novel target for the management of acute pain.