CCK is a brain-gut peptide that is abundantly distributed in both gastrointestinal tract and mammalian brain. The sulfated octapeptide fragment of cholecystokinin (CCK-8S) has been shown to be involved in numerous physiological functions such as behavior, anxiety, learning/memory processes and neuropathic pain. CCK-8S is one of the strongest endogenous anti-opioid substances and suppresses opioid peptides-mediated 'pre-synaptic inhibition' of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) release. Here we provide evidence that CCK-8S modulates GABA-evoked membrane depolarization in rat dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons using intracellular recording technique. Bath application CCK-8S-induced membrane depolarization in most of the rat DRG neurons. The depolarization was blocked by prolumide but not LY225910. Pretreatment with CCK-8S suppressed the GABA-evoked depolarization in a concentration-dependent manner. The CCK-8S inhibition was also time-dependent and reached the peak at about 2 min. The inhibitory effect of CCK-8S was strongly suppressed by pre-incubation of CCK-B receptor antagonist LY225910, phospholipase C inhibitor U73122, protein kinase C inhibitor chelerythrine and calcium chelator BAPTA-AM, respectively. The protein kinase A inhibitor H-89 did not affect CCK-8S effect. The results suggest that CCK-8S inhibits GABA-A receptor function by activation of CCK-B receptor followed by activation of intracellular PLC-Ca(2+)-PKC cascade. Thus, CCK-8S might enhance nociceptive information transmission through inhibition of the "pre-synaptic inhibition" evoked by GABA, which may explain its role in modulation of primary sensory information (especially pain).