title: Response properties of dorsal root reflexes in cutaneous C fibers before and after intradermal capsaicin injection in rats.
abstract: C fiber dorsal root reflexes (DRR) contribute to neurogenic inflammation and possibly also to touch-evoked pain (allodynia) induced by intradermal capsaicin. The responses of C fibers in the sural nerve to graded mechanical stimuli before and following intradermal capsaicin were studied in 39 adult male rats. Two-thirds of 111 fibers were without spontaneous activity, while the remaining fibers averaged 1.41+/-0.25 spontaneous antidromic spikes per second. Among the quiescent C fibers only two had excitatory receptive fields, whereas the active C fibers showed three patterns of activity, an excitatory response, an inhibitory response, or no response to mechanical stimulation. The excitatory responses were to high intensity mechanical stimuli alone, while inhibitory responses were evoked in a graded fashion by both noxious and innocuous mechanical stimuli. Intradermal injection of capsaicin increased spontaneous and evoked DRRs in all C fibers with excitatory responses to mechanical stimuli, but none acquired responses to innocuous stimuli. Capsaicin initially produced inhibition of spontaneous activity in C fibers with inhibitory or no receptive fields, but this later resumed and achieved a rate higher than baseline. Mechanical stimuli re-applied following the resumption of spontaneous discharges failed to produce any response. Spontaneous DRRs were increased by topical application of 1 mM beta-alanine (a competitive antagonist for GABA transporters) and abolished by ipsilateral spinal nerve L5 lesion, verifying antidromic origin. The role of C fiber DRRs in normal sensory transmission and during hyperalgesia is discussed.
authors.affiliation: The Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, The Division of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA. hrweng@mdanderson.org
authors.forename: H-R
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Weng
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Dougherty
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000187:drug effects; D000409:Alanine / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D002211:Capsaicin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004347:Drug Interactions; D004487:Edema / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D005121:Extremities / Q000294:innervation / Q000503:physiopathology; D050485:GABA Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; D006930:Hyperalgesia / Q000503:physiopathology; D007271:Injections, Intradermal / Q000379:methods; D007796:Laminectomy / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D049990:Membrane Transport Modulators; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D036421:Nerve Fibers, Unmyelinated / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D009431:Neural Conduction / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology / Q000528:radiation effects; D009433:Neural Inhibition / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology / Q000528:radiation effects; D010812:Physical Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012018:Reflex / Q000187:drug effects*; D012867:Skin / Q000294:innervation*; D013126:Spinal Nerve Roots / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D050485:GABA Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; D049990:Membrane Transport Modulators; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D000409:Alanine; D002211:Capsaicin