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The Journal of Neuroscience, September 15, 1998, 18(18):7581-7587

Inflammatory Mediators Sensitize Acutely Axotomized Nerve Fibers to Mechanical Stimulation in the Rat

Martin Michaelis, Carola Vogel, Karl-Heinz Blenk, Adalsteinn Arnarson, and Wilfrid Jänig

Physiologisches Institut, Christian-Albrechts-Universität, 24098 Kiel, Germany

Many axotomized myelinated as well as unmyelinated cutaneous nerve fibers are sensitive to mechanical stimuli applied to the cut nerve end within a few hours after nerve lesion. Here we investigated the influence of inflammatory mediators on this ectopic mechanosensitivity after cutting and ligating the sural nerve in anesthetized rats. Neural activity was recorded from single axons in filaments teased from the sural or sciatic nerve proximally to the lesion site 2-33 hr after axotomy. Using calibrated von Frey hairs (1.0-128.5 mN), 30 sec trains of phasic stimuli were applied to the cut nerve end immediately before and after local application of a mixture of inflammatory mediators [inflammatory soup (IS), consisting of bradykinin, 5-HT, prostaglandin E₂, histamine (all 10 µM), and K⁺ 7 mM, pH 7.0] for 2 min. Before as well as after IS application, von Frey thresholds were significantly lower in myelinated (A) fibers than in unmyelinated (C) fibers. IS application enhanced the ectopic mechanical excitability, as expressed in reduced von Frey thresholds and increased response magnitudes, of most severed mechanosensitive C fibers (77%) and some mechanosensitive A fibers (46%). The sensitization lasted for 10-40 min after a 2 min IS application. Additionally, among axotomized nerve fibers unresponsive to probing of the nerve lesion site before IS application, 1 of 63 (1.6%) A and 3 of 106 (2.8%) C fibers became mechanosensitive immediately after IS application. The results indicate that after axotomy, inflammatory processes augment touch-evoked ectopic activity in lesioned sensory nerve fibers. Because many affected afferents are presumably of nociceptive function, their enhanced neural barrage may contribute to neuropathic pain states.

Key words: axotomy; hyperalgesia; inflammation; sensitization; pain; electrophysiology

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Copyright © 1998 Society for Neuroscience  0270-6474/98/18187581-07$05.00/0

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