Neuroscience letters
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Neuroscience letters · Mar 2002
Effects of electroacupuncture on the mechanical allodynia in the rat model of neuropathic pain.
The analgesic effects of acupuncture on the mechanical allodynia in the rat model of neuropathic pain have not yet been studied. The aim of the present study is: first, to determine if electroacupuncture (EA) or morphine attenuates the mechanical allodynia; and secondly, to examine if the EA effect may be mediated by endogenous opioids. To produce neuropathic pain, the right superior caudal trunk was resected between the S3 and S4 spinal nerves. ⋯ In addition, the antiallodynic effect of Houxi EA was blocked by pretreatment with naloxone (2 mg/kg, i.p.). However, combined application of EA and morphine did not show an obvious synergistic effect. These results suggest that low frequency EA or morphine can relieve the mechanical allodynia signs and the EA effect can be mediated by endogenous opioid systems.
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Neuroscience letters · Mar 2002
Anterograde TNF alpha transport from rat dorsal root ganglion to spinal cord and injured sciatic nerve.
Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF alpha) is a key modulator of painful peripheral nerve injury. We have previously shown that a tracer of TNF alpha injected at the site of rat sciatic nerve injury undergoes retrograde axonal transport to the dorsal root ganglia (DRG). ⋯ It also reached the dorsal horn of the spinal cord in injured rats, but not in control rats. These findings highlight a dynamic process of TNF alpha axonal transport in the peripheral neural axis, and help explain activation of central cytokines in the pathogenesis of painful neuropathy.