Prolonged maintenance of capsaicin-induced hyperalgesia by brief daily vibration stimuli

Hee Kee Kim, Jörn Schattschneider, Inhyung Lee, Kyungsoon Chung, Ralf Baron, Jin Mo Chung

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

13 Scopus citations

Abstract

This study tests the hypothesis that central sensitization initiated by nociceptive input can be maintained by repeated brief innocuous peripheral inputs. Capsaicin was injected intradermally into the hind paw of adult rats. Three different types of daily cutaneous mechanical stimulations (vibration, soft brush, or pressure) were applied to the capsaicin-injected paw for a period of 2 weeks. Daily stimulation consisted of a 10-s stimulation repeated every 30 s for 30 min. Foot withdrawal thresholds to von Frey stimuli applied to the paw were measured once a day for 4 weeks. The capsaicin-only group (control rats without daily stimulation) showed hyperalgesia lasting for 3 days. In contrast, hyperalgesia persisted for 2 weeks in the group that received vibration stimulation. Neither the soft brush nor the pressure group showed a significant difference in mechanical threshold from the control group (capsaicin only). The vibration-induced prolonged hyperalgesia was significantly reduced by systemic injection of ifenprodil, an NMDA-receptor antagonist, but it was not influenced by either an AMPA-receptor blocker or a reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenger. Furthermore, a dorsal column lesion did not interfere with the prolongation of hyperalgesia. Data suggest that vibration-induced prolongation of hyperalgesia is mediated by spinal NMDA-receptors, and a similar mechanism may underlie some forms of chronic pain with no obvious causes, such as complex regional pain syndrome type 1 (CRPS-1).

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)93-101
Number of pages9
JournalPain
Volume129
Issue number1-2
DOIs
StatePublished - May 2007
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • CRPS-1
  • Capsaicin
  • Central sensitization
  • Chronic pain
  • Hyperalgesia
  • NMDA-receptor
  • Persistent pain
  • Vibration stimulation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Neurology
  • Clinical Neurology
  • Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine

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