PMID: 9550141Apr 29, 1998Paper

Normal and injury-induced sympathetic innervation of rat dorsal root ganglia increases with age

The Journal of Comparative Neurology
M S Ramer, M A Bisby

Abstract

In rats, partial injury to a peripheral nerve often leads to sympathetically maintained pain (SMP). In humans, this condition is especially apparent in the elderly. Nerve injury also causes perivascular sympathetic axons to sprout into the dorsal root ganglion (DRG), forming a possible anatomical substrate for SMP. Here, we describe the effects of chronic sciatic nerve constriction injury (CCI) in young (3 months) and old (16 months) rats on neuropathic pain behavior and on sympathetic sprouting in DRG. Behavioral tests assessed changes in thermal allodynia and hyperalgesia and in mechanical allodynia. We found that 1) sympathetic innervation of the DRG increased naturally with age, forming pericellular baskets mainly around large DRG neurons, and that sympathetic fibers were often associated with myelinated sensory axons; 2) sympathetic fiber density following CCI was also greater in old than in young rats; and 3) in old rats, thermal allodynia was less pronounced than in young rats, whereas thermal hyperalgesia and mechanical allodynia were more pronounced. These results highlight the possibility that sympathetic sprouting in the DRG is responsible for the sympathetic generation or maintenance of pain, especially in the elderly.

References

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Citations

Jan 19, 2007·Brain Research·Jeremy S TomaMatt S Ramer
Sep 6, 2015·Journal of the Neurological Sciences·Weiwei YuChenhong Li
Jan 24, 2006·European Journal of Pain : EJP·Gisèle PickeringAlain Eschalier
Jun 3, 2004·Neuroscience Letters·Wendy F SternbergJeffrey S Mogil
Oct 13, 2006·Progress in Neurobiology·Antti Pertovaara
Oct 18, 2005·European Journal of Pharmacology·Sun Kwang KimHeung Sik Na
Oct 27, 2016·Neuroscience·Mélanie KremerMichel Barrot

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