Recent studies have suggested that a spinal cholinergic system is important in spinal nociceptive modulation. In the present study, the role of a nitric oxide (NO)-generating system in spinal cholinergic modulation of nociception was examined in awake rats. Intrathecal (i.t.) administration of the cholinergic muscarinic receptor antagonist atropine produced a dose-dependent (1.4-14.4 nmol) decrease in the mechanical threshold for tail withdrawal, which was reversed rapidly (2-3 min) by subsequent i.t. administration of the NO precursor, L-arginine (10 pmol to 10 nmol). Intrathecal administration of L-arginine alone (10 pmol to 10 nmol) produced a dose-dependent increase in the mechanical nociceptive withdrawal threshold of the tail. The reflexive withdrawal of the tail produced by noxious heat was not significantly affected by i.t. administration of either atropine or L-arginine. Inhibition of the NO-cGMP pathway by i.t. administration of either Nw-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME, 10 nmol) or methylene blue (10 nmol) significantly enhanced the magnitude and prolonged the time course of the decrease in the mechanical threshold for tail withdrawal produced by i.t. pretreatment with atropine (1.4 nmol). Neither L-NAME nor methylene blue affected mechanical withdrawal thresholds in rats pretreated with saline. These data suggest that the production of endogenous NO is required for tonic inhibition of spinal nociceptive mechanical transmission. Moreover, the present data support the speculation that there exists in the lumbar spinal cord a tonic, cholinergic modulation of NO synthase.