Berrocal YA, Pearse DD, Andrade CM, Hechtman JF, Puentes R, Eaton MJ. Increased spinal c-Fos expression with noxious and non-noxious peripheral stimulation after severe spinal contusion.
Neurosci Lett 2006;
413:58-62. [PMID:
17161529 DOI:
10.1016/j.neulet.2006.11.030]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2006] [Revised: 11/13/2006] [Accepted: 11/13/2006] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
The effects of severe contusive spinal cord injury (SCI), at thoracic level 8 (T8), on lumbar c-Fos expression in the spinal cord was investigated. As hypothesized, chronic SCI has a significant effect on expression of c-Fos in the dorsal spinal sensory areas with noxious and innocuous peripheral stimulation of the sciatic nerve. This alteration to stimulation effects was measured using counts of c-Fos immunoreactive cells in the dorsal horn of the L5 lumbar spinal cord in injured animals at 90 days post-injury and in uninjured controls. The number of c-Fos immunoreactive cells increased in SCI rats only after noxious peripheral stimulation (electrical and chemical) suggesting a general increase in excitability in spinal pathways (central sensitization) associated with chronic SCI. These altered responses may represent a functional anatomical reorganization of spinal cord circuitry leading to increased dorsal horn c-Fos expression as a response to severe chronic contusive damage to the spinal cord sensory pathways.
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