No abstract

No abstract

The vast majority of human peripheral nerve injuries occur in the upper limb, whereas the most animal studies have been conducted using the hindlimb models of neuropathic pain, involving damages of the sciatic or lumbar spinal nerve(s). We attempted to develop a rat forelimb model of peripheral neuropathy by partial injury of the median and ulnar nerves. The halves of each nerve were transected by microscissors at about 5mm proximal from the elbow joint and behavioral signs of neuropathic pain, such as mechanical and cold allodynia, and heat hyperalgesia, were monitored up to 126 days following nerve injury. Mechanical allodynia was assessed by measuring the forepaw withdrawal threshold to von Frey filaments, and cold allodynia was evaluated by measuring the time spent in lifting or licking the forepaw after applying acetone to it. Heat hyperalgesia was also monitored by investigating the forepaw withdrawal latencies using the Hargreaves' test. After the nerve injury, the experimental animals exhibited long-lasting clear neuropathic pain-like behaviors, such as reduced forepaw withdrawal threshold to von Frey filaments, the increased response duration of the forepaw to acetone application, and the decreased withdrawal latency to radiant heat stimulation. These behaviors were significantly alleviated by administration of gabapentin (5 or 50mg/kg, i.p.) in a dose-dependent manner. Therefore, these abnormal sensitivities are interpreted as the signs of neuropathic pain following injury of the median and ulnar nerves. Our rat forelimb model of neuropathic pain may be useful for studying human neuropathic pain and screening for valuable drug candidates.

The early postnatal period has been suggested to be the vulnerable time for structural and functional reorganization of sensory systems, and painful stimuli at this time may alter neuronal circuits, thereby leading to changes in an individual's response to pain later in life. In the present study, we examined whether inflammatory experience in the early life can affect pain responses to subsequent noxious insults later in life. The two groups of neonatal rats, treated with an inflammatory irritant and untreated, were subjected to inflammation and peripheral nerve injury in adulthood. Neonatal inflammation was induced by injection of complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA, 25 microl) into the hindpaw or tail of newborn rat pups. Adult rats which had suffered from neonatal paw inflammation at P0 were subjected to re-injection of CFA into the paw neonatally exposed to CFA or L5 spinal nerve ligation. Paw thickness and histology of inflamed paw were examined to assess the neonatal inflammation. Adult animals whose tail had been subjected to CFA injection on P3 received tail-innervating nerve injury. The results showed that the neonatal CFA-treated rats suffered from chronic inflammation, confirmed by persistent increase of paw thickness and histological result of inflamed paw. These animals showed enhanced pain responses to re-inflammatory challenge by injection of CFA (200 microl) into the neonatally inflamed paw 8 weeks after birth compared with the neonatally untreated animals. However, neuropathic pain on the hindpaw and the tail which had been induced by peripheral nerve injury in the neonatal CFA-treated group were not different from those of the untreated group. The present data suggest that early neonatal long-lasting inflammation differentially affects pain responses later in life, depending on the types of subsequent noxious insults.

No abstract