Raymond Quock, Ph.D. of the Department of VCAPP in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Washington State University

Our research has used quantitative trait loci (QTL) localization to identify markers in the mouse genome that are significantly associated with responsiveness to N₂O and have implicated the biological regulator nitric oxide (NO) as a critical determinant of the analgesic mechanism of action of N₂O. Current research is elucidating the role of NO in the mechanism that regulates neuronal release of opioid peptides.

We were also the first to demonstrate a specific anxiolytic effect of N₂O that was independent of its analgesic property and to show that this effect is equivalent to the effect of benzodiazepines. N₂O and benzodiazepines produce parallel behavioral effects in various animal models of experimental anxiety. Like the effects of chlordiazepoxide, the effects of N₂O are antagonized by flumazenil, a benzodiazepine receptor blocker, and are significantly attenuated in the presence of benzodiazepine tolerance. Current research is localizing the neuroanatomical locations of the critical enzymes in the signaling pathway, nitric oxide synthase, soluble guanylyl cyclase and cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinase. These N₂O analgesia and anxiolysis studies utilize a combination of stereotaxic neurosurgical, behavioral, pharmacological, neurochemical, microdialysis, pharmacogenetic and molecular biology approaches.

Raymond M. Quock, Professor, obtained his B.S. degree in biology from the University of San Francisco in 1970 and his Ph.D. in pharmacology from the University of Washington in 1974. He spent one year as an instructor in pharmacology at the University of Washington (1974-75) and the next four years as an assistant professor of pharmacology at the University of Pacific School of Pharmacy in Stockton, California (1975-79). Dr. Quock then worked at the Marquette University School of Dentistry in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (1979-89), moving through the ranks of assistant professor, associate professor and eventually to full professor. He also held adjunct positions at the Medical College of Wisconsin and the V.A. Medical Center. He then left Milwaukee for the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Rockford (1989-98), where he was professor of pharmacology and also adjunct professor of pharmacology in anesthesiology at the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago (1993-98). Dr. Quock joined Washington State University as professor and chair of pharmaceutical sciences in the College of Pharmacy in January 1999. He is a member of both the Neuroscience and Pharmacology/Toxicology graduate programs. After returning to teaching and research in 2002, he was reappointed department chair in July 2007.

S. Li, J.C. Doss, E.J. Hardee and R.M. Quock. Involvement of cyclic GMP-dependent protein kinase in nitrous oxide-induced anxiolytic-like behavior in the mouse light/dark exploration test. Brain Research 1038(1):113-117 (2005)

E.D. Henry, Y. Ohgami, S. Li, E. Chung and R.M. Quock. Correlation of inbred mouse sensitivity to nitrous oxide antinociception with brain NOS activity following exposure to nitrous oxide. Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior 81(4):764-768 (2005)

R.M. Quock and L.K. Vaughn. Do general anesthetics induce the neuronal release of endogenous opioid peptides? Life Sciences 77(21):2603-2610 (2005)

M. Ishikawa, K. Abe, Y. Matsushita, I. Utsunomiya, R.M. Quock and K. Taguchi. Involvement of brain PKC in nitrous oxide-induced antinociception in mice. Neuroscience 140(1):227-223 (2006)

D.E. Emmanouil, Z. Papadopoulou-Daifoti, P.T. Hagihara, D.G. Quock and R.M. Quock. Possible involvement of serotonin in the anxiolytic effect of nitrous oxide in rodents. Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior 84(2):313–320 (2006)

E. Chung, B. Burke, A.J. Bieber, J.C. Doss, Y. Ohgami and R.M. Quock. Dynorphin-mediated antinociceptive effects of l-arginine and SIN-1 (an NO donor) in mice. Brain Research Bulletin 70(3):245–250 (2006)

L.K. Vaughn and R.M. Quock. Nitrous oxide and opioid receptors. In: Willis, W.D. and R.F. Schmidt, eds. Encyclopedia of Pain, pp. 1347-1349. Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg New York (2007)

D.E. Emmanouil and R.M. Quock. Advances in understanding the actions of nitrous oxide. Anesthesia Progress 54(1):9-18 (2007)

R.J. Pruhs, R.T. Peña and R.M. Quock. Antagonism of phosphoramidon-induced antinociception in mice by m- but not k-opioid receptor blockers. Life Sciences 80(19):1817-1820 (2007)

Y. Matsushita, M. Ishikawa, K. Abe, I. Utsunomiya, K. Hoshi, R.M. Quock and K. Taguchi. Protein kinase Cg is a key enzyme in the development of tolerance to nitrous oxide-induced antinociception in mice. Neuroscience (in press)

D.E. Emmanouil, A.S. Dickens, R.W. Heckert, Y. Ohgami, E. Chung, S. Han and R.M. Quock. Nitrous oxide-antinociception is mediated by opioid receptors and nitric oxide in the periaqueductal gray region of the brain. European Neuropsychopharmacology (in press).