Increased pain sensitivity following heat injury involves a central mechanism.
This study presents evidence for a central mechanism of hyperalgesia by showing that heat injury causes an increase in pain sensitivity even if the injured region is denervated shortly after injury. Increased pain sensitivity was demonstrated by increased autotomy following total nerve sections in an injured limb, and by reduced foot-withdrawal latencies in the paw contralateral to an injury.
D000818:Animals; D002056:Burns / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010146:Pain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D051381:Rats; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology