Department of Anesthesiology, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China.
Pain Res Manag. 2013 May-Jun;18(3):137-41. doi: 10.1155/2013/147043.
Neuropathic pain is complex, and a satisfactory therapeutic method of treatment has yet to be developed; therefore, finding a new and effective therapeutic method is an important issue in the field of neuropathic pain.
To determine the effects of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) on pain-related behaviours and nitric oxide synthase (NOS) expression in a rat model of neuropathic pain.
Forty male Sprague Dawley rats were randomly divided into five groups (eight rats per group) including control, sham operation, sciatic nerve with chronic constriction injury (CCI), HBO pretreatment (pre-HBO) and HBO post-treatment (post-HBO) groups. Pain-related behaviours and NOS expression in the spinal cord were compared among the five groups.
Compared with the CCI group, the mechanical withdrawal threshold was significantly increased and thermal withdrawal latency was significantly extended in the pre-HBO and post-HBO groups (all P<0.05). After CCI, expression of spinal neuronal NOS and inducible NOS were increased. Expression of spinal neuronal NOS and inducible NOS were significantly decreased in the pre-HBO and post-HBO groups compared with the CCI group (all P<0.05). Spinal eNOS expression changed very little.
HBO has been used as an effective and noninvasive method for the treatment of spinal cord injuries and high-altitude sickness, and in immunosuppression and stem-cell research; however, it has yet to be applied to the treatment of neuropathic pain. The present study indicated that HBO effectively increased mechanical withdrawal threshold and thermal withdrawal latency, demonstrating that HBO has therapeutic effects on neuropathic pain.
HBO inhibits pain in rats with CCI through the regulation of spinal NOS expression.
神经病理性疼痛较为复杂，目前尚未开发出满意的治疗方法，因此寻找新的有效治疗方法是神经病理性疼痛领域的重要课题。
观察高压氧（HBO）对神经病理性疼痛大鼠疼痛相关行为学及一氧化氮合酶（NOS）表达的影响。
40 只雄性 SD 大鼠随机分为对照组、假手术组、坐骨神经慢性缩窄性损伤（CCI）组、HBO 预处理组（pre-HBO 组）和 HBO 后处理组（post-HBO 组），每组 8 只。比较五组大鼠的疼痛相关行为学及脊髓 NOS 表达。
与 CCI 组比较，pre-HBO 组和 post-HBO 组大鼠机械缩足阈值升高，热缩足潜伏期延长（均 P<0.05）。CCI 后，大鼠脊髓神经元型 NOS 和诱导型 NOS 表达均升高，pre-HBO 组和 post-HBO 组大鼠脊髓神经元型 NOS 和诱导型 NOS 表达均低于 CCI 组（均 P<0.05），脊髓内皮型 NOS 表达变化不大。
HBO 已应用于脊髓损伤和高原病、免疫抑制及干细胞研究等的治疗，尚未应用于神经病理性疼痛的治疗。本研究发现 HBO 可有效提高机械缩足阈值和热缩足潜伏期，提示 HBO 对神经病理性疼痛具有治疗作用。
HBO 通过调节脊髓 NOS 表达抑制 CCI 大鼠疼痛。
