Articles: hyperalgesia.
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1. The spinal role of the cAMP transduction cascade in nociceptive processing was investigated in awake behaving rats (male, Sprague-Dawley) by activating or inhibiting this pathway spinally. Microdialysis fibres were implanted into the dorsal horn to infuse drugs directly to the spinal cord. 2. ⋯ In contrast, post-treatment spinally with THFA (0.01-1 mM) or PKI (0.05-50 mM) dose-dependently reduced the mechanical hyperalgesia and allodynia produced by capsaicin injection. Furthermore, the mechanical hyperalgesia and allodynia blocked by the adenylate cyclase inhibitor, THFA (1 mM), was reversed by infusion of 8-bromo-cAMP (0.01-10 mM) in a dose-dependent manner. 6. Thus, this study demonstrates that activation of the cAMP transduction cascade at the spinal cord level results in mechanical hyperalgesia and allodynia and that the secondary mechanical hyperalgesia and allodynia following intradermal injection of capsaicin is mediated by this same transduction cascade.
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Experimental neurology · Oct 1997
Chronic spinal nerve ligation induces changes in response characteristics of nociceptive spinal dorsal horn neurons and in their descending regulation originating in the periaqueductal gray in the rat.
We studied whether a chronic neuropathy induced by unilateral spinal nerve ligation changes the response characteristics of spinal dorsal horn wide-dynamic range (WDR) neurons or their periaqueductal gray (PAG)-induced descending modulation. Experiments were performed in rats with behaviorally demonstrated allodynia induced by spinal nerve ligation and in a group of nonneuropathic control rats. The stimulus-response functions of WDR neurons for mechanical and thermal stimuli and the modulation of their peripherally evoked responses by electrical stimulation of the PAG were determined under pentobarbital anesthesia. ⋯ The results indicate that spinal nerve ligation induces increased spontaneous activity and enhanced responses to mechanical stimuli in the spinal dorsal horn WDR neurons, whereas noxious heat-evoked responses are not significantly changed or if anything, attenuated. Moreover, the inhibition of noxious heat stimuli by PAG stimulation is attenuated in the neuropathic side. It is proposed that the observed changes in the response characteristics of the spinal dorsal horn WDR neurons and in their descending modulation may contribute to the neuropathic symptoms in these animals.
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Spinal NMDA receptors are involved in hyperalgesia and chronic pain. The activation of spinal NMDA receptor results in the production of nitric oxide in the second order neurons in the spinal cord dorsal horn. We investigated the effects of intrathecally administered nitroglycerin (NTG) which releases nitric oxide in the cell. ⋯ MK given after formalin injection had significantly less effect on the phase 2 response. L-NAME (NOS inhibitor), MB (guanylate cyclase inhibitor) and HB (nitric oxide scavenger) significantly antagonized the hyperalgesic effect of NTG in the phase 2 of the formalin test. These results show that nitric oxide plays an important role in producing hyperalgesia in the spinal cord acting postsynaptically as well as pre-synaptically.
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Acta Anaesthesiol Scand · Oct 1997
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialMapping of punctuate hyperalgesia around a surgical incision demonstrates that ketamine is a powerful suppressor of central sensitization to pain following surgery.
Tissue injury induces central sensitization in the spinal cord dorsal horn neurons via mechanisms involving N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors, leading to secondary hyperalgesia. Using punctuate mechanical hyperalgesia as a measure of central sensitization, we examined whether induction and maintenance of central sensitization after surgery could be prevented by a low-dose infusion of the NMDA-receptor antagonist ketamine. ⋯ Low-dose i.v. infusion of ketamine during and after surgery reduces mechanical punctuate hyperalgesia surrounding the surgical incision. These results indicate that blockade of NMDA receptors prevents the central sensitization caused by nociceptive input during and after surgery.