• Pain Med · Dec 2017

    Local Resiniferatoxin Induces Long-Lasting Analgesia in a Rat Model of Full Thickness Thermal Injury.

    • Margaux M Salas, John L Clifford, Jessica R Hayden, Michael J Iadarola, and Dayna L Averitt.
    • Pain Management Research Area, United States Army Institute of Surgical Research, JBSA Fort Sam Houston, Texas.
    • Pain Med. 2017 Dec 1; 18 (12): 2453-2465.

    ObjectiveOpioid-based analgesics are a major component of the lengthy pain management of burn patients, including military service members, but are problematic due to central nervous system-mediated side effects. Peripheral analgesia via targeted ablation of nociceptive nerve endings that express the transient receptor potential vanilloid channel 1 (TRPV1) may provide an improved approach. We hypothesized that local injection of the TRPV1 agonist resiniferatoxin (RTX) would produce long-lasting analgesia in a rat model of pain associated with burn injury.MethodsBaseline sensitivities to thermal and mechanical stimuli were measured in male and female Sprague-Dawley rats. Under anesthesia, a 100 °C metal probe was placed on the right hind paw for 30 seconds, and sensitivity was reassessed 72 hours following injury. Rats received RTX (0.25 μg/100 μL; ipl) into the injured hind paw, and sensitivity was reassessed across three weeks. Tissues were collected from a separate group of rats at 24 hours and/or one week post-RTX for pathological analyses of the injured hind paw, dorsal spinal cord c-Fos, and primary afferent neuropeptide immunoreactivity.ResultsLocal RTX reversed burn pain behaviors within 24 hours, which lasted through recovery at three weeks. At one week following RTX, decreased c-Fos and primary afferent neuropeptide immunoreactivities were observed in the dorsal horn, while plantar burn pathology was unaltered.ConclusionsThese results indicate that local RTX induces long-lasting analgesia in a rat model of pain associated with burn. While opioids are undesirable in trauma patients due to side effects, RTX may provide valuable long-term, nonopioid analgesia for burn patients.2016 American Academy of Pain Medicine. This work is written by US Government employees and is in the public domain in the US.

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