title: Gabapentin reverses central hypersensitivity and suppresses medial prefrontal cortical glucose metabolism in rats with neuropathic pain.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Gabapentin (GBP) is known to suppress neuropathic hypersensitivity of primary afferents and the spinal cord dorsal horn. However, its supra-spinal action sites are unclear. We identify the brain regions where GBP changes the brain glucose metabolic rate at the effective dose that alleviates mechanical allodynia using 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) scanning.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Comparing the PET imaging data before and after the GBP treatment, the spared nerve injury-induced increases of glucose metabolism in the thalamus and cerebellar vermis were reversed, and a significant decrease occurred in glucose metabolism in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), including the anterior cingulate cortex. GBP treatment also reversed post-SNI connectivity increases between limbic cortices and thalamus.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results indicate that GBP analgesic effect may be mediated by reversing central hypersensitivity, and suppressing mPFC, a crucial part of the cortical representation of pain, in the brain.
authors.forename: Hsiao-Chun
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Yu-Hsin
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Tzu-Hao Harry
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Chao
authors.forename: Wen-Ying
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Wei-Zen
authors.initials: WZ
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Science, National Taiwan University, No 1, Section 4, Roosevelt Road, Taipei 10617, Taiwan. ctyen@ntu.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Chen-Tung
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Yen
mesh_terms: D000588:Amines / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D003509:Cyclohexanecarboxylic Acids / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D000077206:Gabapentin; D005947:Glucose / Q000378:metabolism*; D006930:Hyperalgesia / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D009437:Neuralgia / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology*; D010147:Pain Measurement; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D011859:Radiography; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D015898:Tomography Scanners, X-Ray Computed; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D000588:Amines; D003509:Cyclohexanecarboxylic Acids; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D005680:gamma-Aminobutyric Acid; D000077206:Gabapentin; D005947:Glucose