Latent Sensitization: A Model for Stress‐Sensitive Chronic Pain. Issue 1 (1st April 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Marvizon, Juan Carlos; Walwyn, Wendy; Minasyan, Ani; Chen, Wenling; Taylor, Bradley K.
• Editors: Gerfen, Charles R.; Holmes, Andrew; Sibley, David; Skolnick, Phil; Wray, Susan
• Is Part Of: Current protocols in neuroscience. Issue 71:Issue 1(2015)
• Page Start: 9.50.1
• Page End: 9.50.14
• Publication Date: 2015-04-01
• Subjects: chronic pain -- constitutive activity -- hyperalgesia -- latent sensitization -- neuropathic pain -- opioid receptor -- stress; Neurosciences -- Laboratory manuals; Neurosciences; Cytological Techniques; Histological Techniques; Nervous System -- anatomy & histology; Neurosciences; Laboratory Manual; Laboratory manuals; 612.8
• DOI: 10.1002/0471142301.ns0950s71
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1934-8576

Abstract

Abstract: Latent sensitization is a rodent model of chronic pain that reproduces both its episodic nature and its sensitivity to stress. It is triggered by a wide variety of injuries ranging from injection of inflammatory agents to nerve damage. It follows a characteristic time course in which a hyperalgesic phase is followed by a phase of remission. The hyperalgesic phase lasts between a few days to several months, depending on the triggering injury. Injection of μ‐opioid receptor inverse agonists (e.g., naloxone or naltrexone) during the remission phase induces reinstatement of hyperalgesia. This indicates that the remission phase does not represent a return to the normal state, but rather an altered state in which hyperalgesia is masked by constitutive activity of opioid receptors. Importantly, stress also triggers reinstatement. Here we describe in detail procedures for inducing and following latent sensitization in its different phases in rats and mice. © 2015 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.