RELATION BETWEEN SPINAL NEURONAL APOPTOSIS AND NEUROPATHIC PAIN IN RATS FOLLOWING SCIATIC NERVE LIGATION

Objective:To investigate the relation between spinal neuronal apoptosis and CCI-induced neuropathic pain.Methods: Thirty-six healthy adult male Wistar rats receiving sciatic nerve ligation were tested for paw and tail withdrawal latency at-1 day,6 h,1,3,7 and 14 days after surgery,respectively.Then rats were sacrificed,and spinal cords were removed for apoptotic,immunohistochemical and histochemical analyses at the corresponding time points. Results: Mechanical allodynia and thermal hyperalgesia developed at 6 h after sciatic nerve ligation;TNF-α、IL-6 and neuronal apoptosis were first detected in spinal cord 6 h and 1 d after injury and peaked at 1 d,3 d and 7d respectively.Conclusion: Our findings indicated that sciatic nerve ligation can lead to spinal neuronal apoptosis,which may be associated with the overexpression of TNF-α and IL-6 in the spine cord,a possible mechanism for neuropathic pain.