Ralstonstougaard6845
ay be useful for detecting patient subgroups with enhanced placebo responses that can diminish assay sensitivity in pain clinical trials.
High mobility group box 1 protein (HMGB1) is increasingly regarded as an important player in the spinal regulation of chronic pain. Although it has been reported that HMGB1 induces spinal glial activation in a Toll-like receptor (TLR)4-dependent fashion, the aspect of sexual dimorphisms has not been thoroughly addressed. Here, we examined whether the action of TLR4-activating, partially reduced disulfide HMGB1 on microglia induces nociceptive behaviors in a sex-dependent manner. We found disulfide HMGB1 to equally increase microglial Iba1 immunoreactivity in lumbar spinal dorsal horn in male and female mice, but evoke higher cytokine and chemokine expression in primary microglial culture derived from males compared to females. Interestingly, TLR4 ablation in myeloid-derived cells, which include microglia, only protected male mice from developing HMGB1-induced mechanical hypersensitivity. Spinal administration of the glial inhibitor, minocycline, with disulfide HMGB1 also prevented pain-like behavior in maleptive and anti-inflammatory proteins to be upregulated in only male mice subjected to minocycline. One of the proteins elevated, alpha-1-antitrypsin, partially protected males but not females from developing HMGB1-induced pain. Targeting downstream proteins of alpha-1-antitrypsin failed to produce robust sex differences in pain-like behavior, suggesting that several proteins identified by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry are required to modulate the effects. Taken together, the current study highlights the importance of mapping sex dimorphisms in pain mechanisms and point to processes potentially involved in the spinal antinociceptive effect of microglial inhibition in male mice.
Diminished synaptic inhibition in the spinal dorsal horn is a major contributor to pathological pain syndromes of neuropathic or inflammatory origin. Drugs that enhance the activity of dorsal horn α2/α3GABAARs normalize exaggerated nociceptive responses in rodents with neuropathic nerve lesions or peripheral inflammation but lack most of the typical side effects of less specific GABAergic drugs. find more It is however still unknown whether such drugs also reduce the clinically more relevant conscious perception of pain. Here, we investigated the effects of the α2/α3GABAAR subtype-selective modulator TPA023B on the tonic aversive component of pain in mice with peripheral inflammation or neuropathy. In neuropathic mice with a chronic constriction injury of the sciatic nerve, TPA023B not only reversed hyperalgesia to tactile and heat stimuli but also was highly effective in the conditioned place preference test. In the formalin test, TPA023B not only reduced licking of the injected paw but also reversed facial pain expc nerve, TPA023B not only reversed hyperalgesia to tactile and heat stimuli but also was highly effective in the conditioned place preference test. In the formalin test, TPA023B not only reduced licking of the injected paw but also reversed facial pain expression scores in the mouse grimace scale assay. Taken together, our results demonstrate that α2/α3GABAA receptor subtype-selective modulators not only reduce nociceptive withdrawal responses but also alleviate the tonic aversive components of chronic pain.Patients with neuropathic pain often experience exaggerated pain and anxiety. Central sensitization has been linked with the maintenance of neuropathic pain and may become an autonomous pain generator. Conversely, emerging evidence accumulated that central sensitization is initiated and maintained by ongoing nociceptive primary afferent inputs. However, it remains elusive what mechanisms underlie this phenomenon and which peripheral candidate contributes to central sensitization that accounts for pain hypersensitivity and pain-related anxiety. Previous studies have implicated peripherally localized cGMP-dependent protein kinase I (PKG-I) in plasticity of nociceptors and spinal synaptic transmission as well as inflammatory hyperalgesia. However, whether peripheral PKG-I contributes to cortical plasticity and hence maintains nerve injury-induced pain hypersensitivity and anxiety is unknown. Here, we demonstrated significant upregulation of PKG-I in ipsilateral L3 dorsal root ganglia (DRG), no change in L4 DRG, and downregulation in L5 DRG upon spared nerve injury. Genetic ablation of PKG-I specifically in nociceptors or post-treatment with intervertebral foramen injection of PKG-I antagonist, KT5823, attenuated the development and maintenance of spared nerve injury-induced bilateral pain hypersensitivity and anxiety. Mechanistic analysis revealed that activation of PKG-I in nociceptors is responsible for synaptic potentiation in the anterior cingulate cortex upon peripheral neuropathy through presynaptic mechanisms involving brain-derived neurotropic factor signaling. Our results revealed that PKG-I expressed in nociceptors is a key determinant for cingulate synaptic plasticity after nerve injury, which contributes to the maintenance of pain hypersensitivity and anxiety. Thereby, this study presents a strong basis for opening up a novel therapeutic target, PKG-I, in nociceptors for treatment of comorbidity of neuropathic pain and anxiety with least side effects.The subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC) plays an important role in pain modulation. We previously demonstrated sex differences in sgACC functional connectivity (FC) in healthy individuals. Given that many chronic pain conditions show sex differences in prevalence, here we tested the hypothesis that people with chronic pain exhibit a sex-specific pattern of abnormal sgACC FC. We acquired resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data from 156 (82 W 74 M) healthy participants and 38 (19 W 19 M) people with chronic low back pain resulting from ankylosing spondylitis, a condition that predominantly affects men. We confirmed that there are sex differences in sgACC FC in our large cohort of healthy adults; women had greater sgACC FC with the precuneus, a key node of the default mode network, and men had greater sgACC FC with the posterior insula and the operculum. Next, we identified an interaction effect between sex and pain status (healthy/chronic pain) for sgACC FC. Within the chronic pain group, women had greater sgACC FC than men to the default mode and sensorimotor networks.