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Papers of the Week


Papers: 20 Feb 2021 - 26 Feb 2021


Animal Studies


2021 Feb 17


J Neurophysiol

Involvement of the BNP/NPR-A/BKCa pathway in rat trigeminal ganglia following chronic constriction injury.

Authors

Xu W, Yao Y, Zhu D, Han L, Wang L, Wang Y
J Neurophysiol. 2021 Feb 17.
PMID: 33596737.

Abstract

Accumulating evidence indicates that the brain natriuretic peptide(BNP) and its receptor (natriuretic peptide receptor, NPR) are widely distributed in a variety of tissues including trigeminal ganglion (TG). Furthermore, recent studies support the involvement of the BNP-NPRA pathway in acute and chronic pain. To investigate the role of this pathway in chronic pain, an infraorbital nerve-chronic constriction injury (ION-CCI) model of trigeminal neuralgia (TN) was produced in the rat. The time-course of changes in mechanical pain threshold was examined. We observed an upregulation of BNP and NPR-A and a downregulation of BKCa mRNA and protein in rats subjected to ION-CCI. Patch clamping experiments in vitro found that BKCa currents were significantly reduced in rats subjected to ION-CCI. BNP increased BKCa currents in ION-CCI rats. These results suggest that BNP and NPRA might serve as endogenous pain relievers in ION-CCI rats. Modulation of the BNP/NPR-A/BKCa channel pathway in TG may be a viable strategy for the treatment of TN.