Anesthesia and analgesia
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Jan 2013
A pan-caspase inhibitor reduces myocyte apoptosis and neuropathic pain in rats with chronic constriction injury of the sciatic nerve.
Chronic constriction injury is a widely used model for neuropathic pain in rats. It presents with symptoms resembling human neuropathic pain, such as spontaneous pain, hyperalgesia, and allodynia. Recently, myocyte apoptosis was found in neuropathic rats as a possible promoter of pain and motor dysfunction. Our aim in this study was to demonstrate whether muscle cell apoptosis contributes to neuropathic pain in this animal model. ⋯ Myocyte apoptosis possibly contributes to thermal and mechanical allodynia in this experimental model for neuropathic pain. The development of neuropathic pain symptoms did not depend on disturbances in microcirculation or muscle tissue inflammation.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Jan 2013
The effects of electroacupuncture on the extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2/P2X3 signal pathway in the spinal cord of rats with chronic constriction injury.
Electroacupuncture (EA), as a traditional clinical method, is widely accepted in pain clinics, but the analgesic effect of EA has not been fully demonstrated. In the present study, we investigated the effect of EA on chronic pain and expression of P2X3 receptors in the spinal cord of rats with chronic constriction injury (CCI). ⋯ The data demonstrated that EA alleviates neuropathic pain behavior, at least in part, by reducing P2X3 receptor expression in spinal cord via the ERK1/2 signaling pathway. Low frequency EA has a better analgesic effect than high frequency HEA on neuropathic pain.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Jan 2013
Editorial CommentGenotyping without phenotyping: does it really matter?