The ventrobasal (VB) thalamus is innervated by GABAergic afferents from the thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN) and participates in nociception. But how the TRN-VB pathway regulates pain is not fully understood. In the present study, we reported decreased extracellular GABA levels in the VB of rats with CFA-induced chronic inflammatory pain, measured by microdialysis with HPLC analysis. In vitro w...

STUDY DESIGN Repeated measures. OBJECTIVE To investigate motor control (MC) patterns of normal subjects during the low level physical load of the active straight leg raise (ASLR). SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA Aberrant MC patterns, as observed with the ASLR test, are considered to be a mechanism for ongoing pain and disability in subjects with chronic musculoskeletal pelvic girdle pain. These ...

Widely used, the formalin test is a tonic model of continuous pain resulting from formalin-induced tissue injury. It is a useful model, particularly for the screening of novel compounds, since it encompasses inflammatory, neurogenic, and central mechanisms of nociception [5,6]. Reports can vary widely with regard to concentration of formalin (itself a 37% dilute solution of formaldehyde) as wel...

Introduction: Pain as a complex process in the CNS has been extensively studied by many researchers. It has been found that pain is controlled by certain pathways in the CNS, one of most important of which is the descending noradrenergic system. The pathway begins with Locus Coeruleus (LC) nucleus and ends in the spinal cord. In this study, formalin test was used as a chemical and tonic pain...

Event-related potentials (ERPs) evoked by light flashes and auditory tones in a standard odd-ball procedure were recorded from Fz, Cz and Pz scalp sites. Tonic pain was evoked by immersion of the hand in cold water (5 degrees C). Significant effects of pain were found in responses to target stimuli but not in responses to non-target stimuli. P300 wave was affected more than the earlier P200 com...

Cannabinoids, such as Delta9-THC, are capable of inhibiting nociception, i.e., pain transmission, at least in part, by interacting with spinal Gi/Go-coupled cannabinoid receptors. What is not known, however, is the antinociceptive role of endogenous spinal cannabinoids. If endogenous cannabinoids modulate basal nociceptive thresholds, then alterations in this system could be involved in the eti...

Several botanicals, including Crataegus oxycantha, Terminalia arjuna, Inula racemosa, and Astragalus membranaceus, have been found to have therapeutic benefit for the treatment of cardiovascular disease. Crataegus oxycantha has been used traditionally as a cardiac tonic and current uses include treatment for angina, hypertension, arrhythmias, and congestive heart failure. Animal studies have al...