title: Sympathetic activation of cat spinal neurons responsive to noxious stimulation of deep tissues in the low back.
abstract: Prior findings from diverse studies have indicated that activity in axons located in the lumbar sympathetic chains contributes to the activation of spinal pain pathways and to low back pain; these studies have utilized sympathetic blocks in patients, electrical stimulation of the chain in conscious humans, and neuroanatomical mapping of afferent fiber projections. In the present study, dorsal horn neurons receiving nociceptor input from lumbar paraspinal tissues were tested for activation by electrical stimulation of the lumbar sympathetic chain in anesthetized cats. Of 83 neurons tested, 70% were responsive to sympathetic trunk stimulation. Excitatory responses, observed in both nociceptive specific and wide-dynamic-range neurons, were differentiable into two classes: non-entrained and entrained responses. Non-entrained responses were attenuated or blocked by systemic administration of the alpha-adrenergic antagonist phentolamine and are thought to result from sympathetic efferent activation of primary afferents in the units' receptive fields. Entrained responses were unaffected by phentolamine and are thought to result from electrical activation of somatic and/or visceral afferent fibers ascending through the sympathetic trunk into the dorsal horn. These findings from nocireceptive neurons serving lumbar paraspinal tissues suggest that low back pain may be exacerbated by activity in both efferent and afferent fibers located in the lumbar sympathetic chain, the efferent actions being mediated indirectly through sympathetic-sensory interactions in somatic and/or visceral tissues.
authors.affiliation: R.S. Dow Neurological Sciences Institute, Good Samaritan Hospital and Medical Center, Portland, OR 9720V USA Division of Basic Science, Western States Chiropractie College, Portland, OR 97230 USA.
authors.forename: Richard G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Gillette
authors.forename: Ronald C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Kramis
authors.forename: William J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Roberts
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000502:physiology; D002415:Cats; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D004567:Electrodes, Implanted; D004594:Electrophysiology; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D008839:Microelectrodes; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D009619:Nociceptors / Q000502:physiology; D010646:Phentolamine / Q000494:pharmacology; D012867:Skin / Q000294:innervation; D012879:Skin Physiological Phenomena; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000166:cytology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013564:Sympathetic Nervous System / Q000503:physiopathology*
chemical_list: D010646:Phentolamine