Mol Pain
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Painful distal sensory polyneuropathy (DSP) is the most common neurological complication of HIV1 infection. Although infection with the virus itself is associated with an incidence of DSP, patients are more likely to become symptomatic following initiation of nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI) treatment. The chemokines monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP1/CCL2) and stromal derived factor-1 (SDF1/CXCL12) and their respective receptors, CCR2 and CXCR4, have been implicated in HIV1 related neuropathic pain mechanisms including NRTI treatment in rodents. ⋯ More importantly, functional MCP1/CCR2 and SDF1/CXCR4 signaling was present in sensory neurons. In contrast to gp120 treatment alone, the hypernociceptive behavior associated with the injury plus drug combination was only effectively reversed using the CXCR4 antagonist AMD3100. These studies indicate that the functional upregulation of CCR2 and CXCR4 signaling systems following a combination of gp120 and an NRTI are likely to be of central importance to associated DSP and may serve as potential therapeutic targets for treatment of this syndrome.
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Abundantly expressed in pain-sensing neurons, TRPV1, TRPA1 and TRPM8 are major cellular sensors of thermal, chemical and mechanical stimuli. The function of these ion channels has been attributed to their selective permeation of small cations (e.g., Ca2+, Na+ and K+), and the ion selectivity has been assumed to be an invariant fingerprint to a given channel. However, for TRPV1, the notion of invariant ion selectivity has been revised recently. ⋯ In outside-out patch recordings using NMDG+ as the sole external cation and Na+ as the internal cation, TRPA1 activation results in dynamic changes in permeability to NMDG+. In contrast, TRPM8 activation does not produce either Yo-Pro uptake or significant change in ion selectivity. Hence, pore dilation occurs in TRPA1, but not in TRPM8 channels.
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We previously reported that intrathecal injection of lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) induced neuropathic pain through activation of the lysophosphatidic acid (LPA)-1 receptor, possibly via conversion to LPA by autotaxin (ATX). ⋯ These findings suggest that feed-forward LPA production is involved in LPA-induced neuropathic pain.
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The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is important for cognitive and sensory functions including memory and chronic pain. Glutamatergic excitatory synaptic transmission undergo long-term potentiation in ACC pyramidal cells after peripheral injury. Less information is available for the possible long-term changes in neuronal action potentials or intrinsic properties. ⋯ In a state of neuropathic pain, the population distribution (RS: 21.3%; IB: 31.2%; IM: 47.5%) and the single action potential properties of these three groups were indistinguishable from those in control mice. However, for repetitive action potentials, IM cells from neuropathic pain animals showed higher initial firing frequency with no change for the properties of RS and IB neurons from neuropathic pain mice. The present results provide the first evidence that, in addition to synaptic potentiation reported previously, peripheral nerve injury produces long-term plastic changes in the action potentials of cingulate pyramidal neurons in a cell type-specific manner.
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Comparative Study
Modulation of transient receptor potential Vanilloid 4-mediated membrane currents and synaptic transmission by protein kinase C.
Transient receptor potential Vanilloid (TRPV) receptors are involved in nociception and are expressed predominantly in sensory neurons. TRPV1, a non-selective cation channel has been extensively studied and is responsible for inflammatory thermal hypersensitivity. In this study, the expression and function of TRPV4 have been characterized and compared with those of TRPV1. ⋯ These results indicate that TRPV4 and TRPV1 are co-expressed in certain DRG neurons and TRPV4 can be sensitized by PKC not only in DRG neuronal cell bodies, but also in the central sensory and non-sensory nerve terminals. Co-expression of TRPV1 and TRPV4 ion channels, their modulation of synaptic transmission and their sensitization by PKC may synergistically play a role in nociception.