C57BLKS db/db (db/db) mice develop a neuropathy with features of human type 2 diabetic neuropathy. Here, we demonstrate that these mice develop transient mechanical allodynia at the early stage of diabetes. We hypothesized that nerve growth factor (NGF), which enhances the expression of key mediators of nociception (i.e. substance P [SP] and calcitonin gene<related peptide), contributes to the ...

In clinical use, a single infusion of oxaliplatin, widely used to treat metastatic colorectal cancer, induces specific sensory neurotoxicity signs triggered or aggravated by exposure to cold. To study the pathophysiology of these symptoms, we developed and characterized an animal model that reproduces the effects of a single intraperitoneal oxaliplatin administration (3, 6 and 12 mg/kg). Signif...

PURPOSE Nerve root traction injuries induce spinal cord inflammation and lead to neuronal death within days. In the present study, we examined the inflammatory response one week after multiple cervical root transections. METHODS In the transection group, the left cervical roots (C6-8) of rats were cut at the spinal cord junction. In the repair group, transected roots were repaired with nerve ...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the involvement of microglial and astrocytic activation in the medullary dorsal horn (MDH) during the mediation of masseter area allodynia induced by experimental tooth movement (ETM). DESIGN Five groups of adult Sprague-Dawley rats (n=60) were divided into control (CON), minocycline (MIN), ETM, and 10mg/kg or 30mg/kg MIN plus ETM (METM) groups. The upper-first-molar ...

Ten patients (4 female, 6 male) aged 34-67 years suffering from peripheral neuropathic pain participated in a double-blind placebo-controlled study where ketamine or magnesium chloride were administered by a 10 min bolus infusion (ketamine: 0.84 mumol/kg = 0.2 mg/kg, magnesium: 0.16 mmol/kg) followed by a continuous infusion (ketamine: 1.3 mumol/kg/h = 0.3 mg/kg/h, magnesium: 0.16 mmol/kg/h). O...

A double-blind placebo-controlled crossover trial was used to determine the effects of topical ketamine, an N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, on the sensory disturbances in 20 patients with complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS). On two occasions separated by at least one week, sensory tests to light touch, pressure, punctate stimulation, light brushing and thermal stimuli were pe...

Recent behavioral and electrophysiological studies have attributed an important role to dorsal root reflexes (DRRs) in the initiation and development of neurogenic inflammation produced by intradermal capsaicin (CAP). The DRRs can occur in peptidergic fibers, resulting in peripheral release of neuromediators that produce vasodilation, plasma extravasation and subsequently hyperalgesia and allod...

Several studies focused on the role of vitamin D (vitD) in pain chronification. This study vitD level and chronification extension headache disorders. Eighty patients with primary underwent neurological examination, laboratory exams, including serum calcifediol 25(OH)D, features assessment along three questionnaires investigating depression, anxiety, allodynia. The 86.8% population had migraine...

How do spinal circuits mediating tactile sensation and pain get entangled to evoke allodynia, i.e., pain sensation, in response to a normally innocuous stimulus? Recent breakthroughs are now closing this long-standing, critical gap. VGLUT3-expressing neurons and their polysynaptic connectivity to calretinin-expressing neurons are now identified as key determinants of the spinal circuitry underl...