Prostaglandin E1-induced sensitization of Aδ moderate pressure mechanoreceptors》.pdf

Brain Research, 232 (1982) 89-96 89 ElsevierBiomedicalPress PROSTAGLANDIN El-INDUCED SENSITIZATION OF At~ MODERATE PRESSURE MECHANORECEPTORS S. PATEROMICHELAKISand J. P. ROOD Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Kings College Hospital Dental School, Denmark Hill, London, SE5 8RX (U.K.) (AcceptedJune 6th, 1981) Key words: prostaglandinE1 -- At~mechanoreceptors-- sensitization SUMMARY Prostaglandins of the E series (PGEs) have been detected in high quantities in inflamed tissues; when injected in the circulation that supplies the skin they cause inflammation and pain. Evidence of PGE sensitization of C-nociceptors (polymodals) already exists. The present work establishes the PGE1 has a wider sensitizing effect: when injected subdermally it affects mechanoreceptive elements as well. Of moderate- threshold, slow-adapting A6 mechanoreceptors isolated in the skin of the rat leg and responding to punctate stimulation, 79 ~o were sensitized by PGE1 injections nearby (8-12 mm) as judged by their increased responses to innocuous stimulation (0.5-5 g delivered by a stylus with 0.5 mm tip diameter). Of such units, 10.5~ were not sensitized and another 10.5~ were inhibited or lost. Controls showed at most a small and transient increase immediately following the injection whereas the PGE~ effect lasted from between 30 min and 3 h or longer. These results are discussed in connection with mechanoreceptor sensitization by other pain-producing and irritant substances. At the receptor level, nociception under abnormal conditions (e.g. inflammation) may not be solely mediated by unambiguously nociceptive units; in such conditions a wider sensitization of receptive elements may be a contributing facto