• Xiang-min Peng, Zhi-gang Zhou, Joseph C Glorioso, David J Fink, and Marina Mata.
• Department of Neurology, University of Michigan and VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, 48109-0316, USA.
• Ann. Neurol. 2006 May 1;59(5):843-51.

ObjectiveOur objective was to elucidate the mechanisms responsible for below-level pain after partial spinal cord injury (SCI).MethodsWe used lateral hemisection to model central neuropathic pain and herpes simplex viral (HSV) vector-mediated transfer of the cleaved soluble receptor for tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) to evaluate the role of TNF-alpha in the pathogenesis of below-level pain.ResultsWe found activation of microglia and increased expression of TNF-alpha below the level of the lesion in the lumbar spinal cord after T13 lateral hemisection that correlated with emergence of mechanical allodynia in the hind limbs of rats. Lumbar TNF-alpha had an apparent molecular weight of 27 kDa, consistent with the full-length transmembrane form of the protein (mTNF-alpha). Expression of the p55 TNF soluble receptor (sTNFRs) by HSV-mediated gene transfer resulted in reduced pain behavior and a decreased number of ED1-positive cells, as well as decreased phosphorylation of the p38 MAP kinase (p-p38) and diminished expression of mTNF-alpha in the dorsal horn.InterpretationThese results suggest that expression of mTNF-alpha after injury is related to development of pain, and that reverse signaling through mTNF-alpha by sTNFR at that level reduces cellular markers of inflammatory response and pain-related behavior.

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