Articles: neuralgia.
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Neuroscience letters · Jul 2015
Glycine transporter GlyT1, but not GlyT2, is expressed in rat dorsal root ganglion--Possible implications for neuropathic pain.
Glycinergic inhibitory neurotransmission plays a pivotal role in the development of neuropathic pain. The glycine concentration in the synaptic cleft is controlled by the glycine transporters GlyT1 and GlyT2. GlyT1 is expressed throughout the central nervous system, while GlyT2 is exclusively located in glycinergic neurons. ⋯ GlyT1, but not GlyT2, is expressed in the peripheral sensory nervous system. The co-expression of GlyT1 and NMDA receptors in DRG suggests that GlyT1 regulates glycine concentration at the glycine binding site of the NMDA receptor. Differential regulation of GlyT1 expression in the spinal cord or DRG, however, does not seem to be associated with the development of neuropathic pain.
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Neuropathic pain that caused by lesion or dysfunction of the nervous system is associated with gene expression changes in the sensory pathway. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been reported to be able to regulate gene expression. Identifying lncRNA expression patterns in the spinal cord under normal and neuropathic pain conditions is essential for understanding the genetic mechanisms behind the pathogenesis of neuropathic pain. ⋯ Our findings uncovered the expression pattern of lncRNAs and mRNAs in the mice spinal cord under neuropathic pain condition. These lncRNAs and mRNAs may represent new therapeutic targets for the treatment of neuropathic pain.
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The administration of diluted bee venom (DBV) into an acupuncture point has been utilized traditionally in Eastern medicine to treat chronic pain. We demonstrated previously that DBV has a potent anti-nociceptive efficacy in several rodent pain models. The present study was designed to examine the potential anti-nociceptive effect of repetitive DBV treatment in the development of below-level neuropathic pain in spinal cord injury (SCI) rats. ⋯ Finally, DBV injection facilitated motor function recovery as indicated by the Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan rating score. These results indicate that the repetitive application of DBV during the induction phase not only decreased neuropathic pain behavior and glia expression, but also enhanced locomotor functional recovery after SCI. This study suggests that DBV acupuncture can be a potential clinical therapy for SCI management.
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Neuroscience letters · Jul 2015
Increased autophagic activity in dorsal root ganglion attenuates neuropathic pain following peripheral nerve injury.
Autophagy is a process of cellular self-cannibalization, and provides an adaptive mechanism to protect cells against diverse pathological settings. Following peripheral nerve injury, autophagic process was changed in Schwann cells and spinal neurons and glial cells, implicating a vital role of autophagy in chronic pain. However, little is known about the role of autophagy in dorsal root ganglion (DRG) in neuropathic pain. ⋯ Injection of autophagy inducer rapamycin into L5 DRG before or after SNL dose-dependently attenuated neuropathic pain. The expression of LC3 was enhanced in L5 DRG by rapamycin. These data suggest that the autophagy in L5 DRG neurons is a defensive reaction to L5 spinal nerve injury, and pharmacological enhancement of autophagy may be a potential treatment to prevent the onset and chronification of neuropathic pain.