Peripheral Deltorphin II Inhibits Nociceptors Following Nerve Injury

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Authors

JOUKAL Marek VULCHANOVA Lucy HUFFMAN Cecilia DUBOVÝ Petr HONDA Christopher N.

Year of publication 2020
Type Article in Periodical
Magazine / Source Frontiers in Pharmacology
MU Faculty or unit

Faculty of Medicine

Citation
Web https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphar.2020.01151/full
Doi http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2020.01151
Keywords nociceptors; spared nerve injury; delta opioid receptors; neuropathic pain; deltorphin II
Description Clinical and preclinical studies have revealed that local administration of opioid agonists into peripheral tissue attenuates inflammatory pain. However, few studies have examined whether peripherally restricted opioids are effective in reducing mechanical allodynia and hyperalgesia that usually follows nerve injury. The aim of the present study was to determine whether the mechanical responsiveness of C-fiber mechanical nociceptors innervating skin under neuropathic pain conditions is depressed by direct activation of delta opioid receptors (DORs) on their peripheral terminals. A murine model of peripheral neuropathic pain was induced with a spared nerve (tibial) injury, in which mice survived 7 or 28 days after surgery before electrophysiological testing began. Control groups comprised naive and sham-operated animals. An ex vivo preparation of mouse plantar skin with attached tibial nerve was used to examine electrophysiologically the effects of the selective DOR agonist, deltorphin II, on the response properties of individual cutaneous C-fiber nociceptors. In contrast to naive and sham-operated animals, deltorphin II induced an inhibition of the mechanical responsiveness of C-fiber mechanical nociceptors innervating skin under neuropathic conditions. The effects of deltorphin II were concentration-dependent and prevented by pretreatment with naltrindole indicating DOR-mediated inhibitory effects of deltorphin II. Our results provide the first direct evidence for expression of functional DORs on mechanical nociceptors innervating skin in an animal model of neuropathic pain.
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