Schwaller, F;
Kwok, C;
Fitzgerald, M;
(2015)
Postnatal maturation of the spinal-bulbo-spinal loop: brainstem control of spinal nociception is independent of sensory input in neonatal rats.
PAIN
, 157
(3)
pp. 677-686.
10.1097/j.pain.0000000000000420.
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Abstract
The rostroventral medial medulla (RVM) is part of a rapidly acting spino-bulbo-spinal loop that is activated by ascending nociceptive inputs and drives descending feedback modulation of spinal nociception. In the adult rat, the RVM can facilitate or inhibit dorsal horn neuron inputs but in young animals descending facilitation dominates. It is not known whether this early life facilitation is part of a feedback loop. We hypothesized that the newborn RVM functions independently of sensory input, before the maturation of feedback control. We show here that noxious hind paw pinch evokes no fos activation in the RVM or the periaqueductal gray at postnatal day (P) 4 or P8, indicating a lack of nociceptive input at these ages. Significant fos activation was evident at P12, P21, and in adults. Furthermore, direct excitation of RVM neurons with microinjection of DL-homocysteic acid did not alter the net activity of dorsal horn neurons at P10, suggesting an absence of glutamatergic drive, whereas the same injections caused significant facilitation at P21. In contrast, silencing RVM neurons at P8 with microinjection of lidocaine inhibited dorsal horn neuron activity, indicating a tonic descending spinal facilitation from the RVM at this age. The results support the hypothesis that early life descending facilitation of spinal nociception is independent of sensory input. Since it is not altered by RVM glutamatergic receptor activation, it is likely generated by spontaneous brainstem activity. Only later in postnatal life can this descending activity be modulated by ascending nociceptive inputs in a functional spinal-bulbo-spinal loop.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Postnatal maturation of the spinal-bulbo-spinal loop: brainstem control of spinal nociception is independent of sensory input in neonatal rats |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000000420 |
| Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/j.pain.0000000000000420 |
| Additional information: | © 2015 International Association for the Study of Pain. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 (CC BY), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences > Neuro, Physiology and Pharmacology |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1476603 |
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