title: EVALUATION OF HYPERALGESIA AND HISTOLOGICAL CHANGES OF DORSAL ROOT GANGLION INDUCED BY NUCLEUS PULPOSUS.
abstract: To evaluate the hyperalgesia and histological abnormalities induced by contact between the dorsal root ganglion and the nucleus pulposus.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty Wistar rats were used, divided into two experimental groups. In one of the groups, a fragment of autologous nucleus pulposus was removed from the sacrococcygeal region and deposited on the L5 dorsal root ganglia. In the other group (control), a fragment of adipose tissue was deposited on the L5 dorsal root ganglia. Mechanical and thermal hyperalgesia was evaluated on the third day and the first, third, fifth and seventh weeks after the operation. A L5 dorsal root ganglion was removed in the first, third, fifth and seventh weeks after the operation for histological study using HE staining and histochemical study using specific labeling for iNOS.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Higher intensity of mechanical and thermal hyperalgesia was observed in the group of animals in which the nucleus pulposus was placed in contact with the dorsal root ganglion. In this group, the histological study showed abnormalities of the dorsal root ganglion tissue, characterized by an inflammatory process and axonal degeneration. The histopathological abnormalities of the dorsal root ganglion tissue presented increasing intensity with increasing length of observation, and there was a correlation with maintenance of the hyperalgesia observed in the behavioral assessment. Immunohistochemistry using specific labeling for iNOS in the group of animals in which the nucleus pulposus was placed in contact with the dorsal root ganglion showed higher expression of this enzyme in the nuclei of the inflammatory cells (glial cells) surrounding the neurons.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Contact between the nucleus pulposus and the dorsal root ganglion induced mechanical and thermal hyperalgesia and caused histological abnormalities in the dorsal root ganglion components. These abnormalities were characterized by an inflammatory and degenerative process in the structures of the dorsal root ganglion, and they presented increasing intensity with longer periods of observation.
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate student in the Department of Biomechanics, Medicine and Rehabilitation of the Locomotor Apparatus, Ribeirão Preto School of Medicine, University of São Paulo (USP), Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: André Luiz de Souza
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Grava
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate student in the Department of Pharmacology, Ribeirão Preto School of Medicine, University of São Paulo (USP), Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Luiz Fernando
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Ferrari
authors.affiliation: Supervising Professor in the Department of Pharmacology, Ribeirão Preto School of Medicine, University of São Paulo (USP), Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Carlos Amílcar
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Parada
authors.affiliation: Titular Professor of the Department of Biomechanics, Medicine and Rehabilitation of the Locomotor Apparatus, Ribeirão Preto School of Medicine, University of São Paulo (USP), Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Helton Luiz Aparecido
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Defino
keywords: Hyperalgesia; Intervertebral Disk; Intervertebral Disk Displacement; Low Back Pain; Spine; Wistar Rats