Dorsal root ganglia microvascularization in rat neuropathic pain model
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| Year of publication | 2014 |
| Type | Conference abstract |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | The bodies of primary sensory neurons and satellite glial cells (SGC) form a unit which is surrounded by the blood vessels. The SGC and blood capillaries participate in maintenance of the microenvironment stability necessary for the normal functioning of the primary sensory neurons. Cellular and molecular changes occur in the DRG following peripheral nerve injury, including proliferation of SGC and capillaries. The aim of present experiments was to visualize the relation between primary sensory neuron-SGC unit and microvascularization in intact rats and neuropathic pain model using immunohistochemical staining and confocal microscope. Six Wistar rats (male, 250-300g) were anaesthetized with a mixture of ketamine and xylazine and unilateral chronic constriction injury (CCI) of the sciatic nerve was performed. CCI-operated rats were left to survive 21 days. Three naive rats were used for control study. The rats were deeply anaesthetized, perfused transcardially by Zamboni´s fixative and L4-L5 DRG with surrounding tissue was removed. ScaleA2 technique was used for increase of tissue transparency. Immunohistochemical staining for RECA and GFAP was used for visualization of endothelia and activated satellite glial cells (SGCs), respectively. Double staining for GFAP and RECA showed activation of SGCs and vascular proliferation in both ipsilateral and contralateral DRG of CCI-operated animals. Capillary plexuses were densely distributed among SGC as well as between the neuronal bodies and SGC. The results evidenced that the blood vessels proliferated in both ipsilateral and contralateral DRG after unilateral CCI of the sciatic nerve. Microvascular network organized close to neuronal bodies may contribute to neuropathic pain development by systemic diffusion of inflammatory mediators not only in ipsilateral but also contralateral DRG. |
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