• Kazuyuki Watanabe, Karin Larsson, Björn Rydevik, Shin-Ichi Konno, Claes Nordborg, and Kjell Olmarker.
• Department of Orthopaedics, Institute of Clinical Sciences, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden ; Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Fukushima Medical University, School of Medicine, Fukushima, Japan.
• Open Orthop J. 2014 Jan 1; 8: 69-73.

PurposeIt has been assumed that nucleus pulposus-induced activation of the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) may be related to an activation of sodium channels in the DRG neurons. In this study we assessed the expression of Nav 1.8 and Nav 1.9 following disc puncture.MethodThirty female Sprague-Dawley rats were used. The L4/L5 disc was punctured by a needle (n=12) and compared to a sham group without disc puncture (n=12) and a naive group (n=6). At day 1 and 7, sections of the left L4 DRG were immunostained with anti-Nav 1.8 and Nav 1.9 antibodies.ResultAt day 1 after surgery, both Nav 1.8-IR neurons and Nav 1.9-IR neurons were significantly increased in the disc puncture group compared to the sham and naive groups (p<0.05), but not at day 7.ConclusionThe findings in the present study demonstrate a neuronal mechanism that may be of importance in the pathophysiology of sciatic pain in disc herniation.

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