• Hsiao-Chun Lin, Yu-Hsin Huang, Tzu-Hao Harry Chao, Wen-Ying Lin, Wei-Zen Sun, and Chen-Tung Yen.
• Department of Life Science, National Taiwan University, No 1, Section 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei 10617, Taiwan. ctyen@ntu.edu.tw.
• Mol Pain. 2014 Sep 25; 10: 6363.

BackgroundGabapentin (GBP) is known to suppress neuropathic hypersensitivity of primary afferents and the spinal cord dorsal horn. However, its supra-spinal action sites are unclear. We identify the brain regions where GBP changes the brain glucose metabolic rate at the effective dose that alleviates mechanical allodynia using 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) scanning.ResultsComparing the PET imaging data before and after the GBP treatment, the spared nerve injury-induced increases of glucose metabolism in the thalamus and cerebellar vermis were reversed, and a significant decrease occurred in glucose metabolism in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), including the anterior cingulate cortex. GBP treatment also reversed post-SNI connectivity increases between limbic cortices and thalamus.ConclusionsOur results indicate that GBP analgesic effect may be mediated by reversing central hypersensitivity, and suppressing mPFC, a crucial part of the cortical representation of pain, in the brain.

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