Effect of arachnoiditis on pain threshold.
A model for studying the relationship between chronic arachnoiditis and pain sensitivity was developed. Thirty male ICR mice were randomly divided into three groups and the tail-flick test was done using an EMDIE-TF6 apparatus (Emdie Instrument Co., Montpelier, VA). Ten mice were injected intrathecally with 5.0 microL of a kaolin-metrizamide mixture and ten control mice were injected intrathecally with 5.0 microL of an electrolyte solution resembling CSF. A third group, (naive controls) were given no treatment. Six weeks later tail-flick tests were repeated. The kaolin-treated mice had significantly decreased tail-flick latencies (P less than .05) compared with the baseline; the controls had no significant change in tail-flick latency. Histologic examination revealed moderate to severe arachnoiditis in the kaolin-treated animals and no evidence of arachnoid abnormalities in the controls. This study suggests that arachnoiditis may be associated with decreased pain thresholds.
Department of Radiology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee 53226.
G A
GA
Beyer
B T
BT
Lipman
V M
VM
Haughton
K C
KC
Ho
D000818:Animals; D001100:Arachnoiditis / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000503:physiopathology*; D007616:Kaolin / Q000633:toxicity; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008813:Mice, Inbred ICR; D010146:Pain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012684:Sensory Thresholds
D007616:Kaolin