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Secondary Hyperalgesia Phenotypes Exhibit Differences in Brain Activation during Noxious Stimulation.

Asghar, Mohammad Sohail ; Pereira, Manuel Pedro ; Werner, Mads Utke ; Mårtensson, Johan LU ; Larsson, Henrik B W and Dahl, Jørgen Berg (2015) In PLoS ONE 10(1).
Abstract
Noxious stimulation of the skin with either chemical, electrical or heat stimuli leads to the development of primary hyperalgesia at the site of injury, and to secondary hyperalgesia in normal skin surrounding the injury. Secondary hyperalgesia is inducible in most individuals and is attributed to central neuronal sensitization. Some individuals develop large areas of secondary hyperalgesia (high-sensitization responders), while others develop small areas (low-sensitization responders). The magnitude of each area is reproducible within individuals, and can be regarded as a phenotypic characteristic. To study differences in the propensity to develop central sensitization we examined differences in brain activity and anatomy according to... (More)
Noxious stimulation of the skin with either chemical, electrical or heat stimuli leads to the development of primary hyperalgesia at the site of injury, and to secondary hyperalgesia in normal skin surrounding the injury. Secondary hyperalgesia is inducible in most individuals and is attributed to central neuronal sensitization. Some individuals develop large areas of secondary hyperalgesia (high-sensitization responders), while others develop small areas (low-sensitization responders). The magnitude of each area is reproducible within individuals, and can be regarded as a phenotypic characteristic. To study differences in the propensity to develop central sensitization we examined differences in brain activity and anatomy according to individual phenotypical expression of secondary hyperalgesia by magnetic resonance imaging. Forty healthy volunteers received a first-degree burn-injury (47°C, 7 min, 9 cm2) on the non-dominant lower-leg. Areas of secondary hyperalgesia were assessed 100 min after the injury. We measured neuronal activation by recording blood-oxygen-level-dependent-signals (BOLD-signals) during mechanical noxious stimulation before burn injury and in both primary and secondary hyperalgesia areas after burn-injury. In addition, T1-weighted images were used to measure differences in gray-matter density in cortical and subcortical regions of the brain. We found significant differences in neuronal activity between high- and low-sensitization responders at baseline (before application of the burn-injury) (p < 0.05). After the burn-injury, we found significant differences between responders during noxious stimulation of both primary (p < 0.01) and secondary hyperalgesia (p ≤ 0.04) skin areas. A decreased volume of the right (p = 0.001) and left caudate nucleus (p = 0.01) was detected in high-sensitization responders in comparison to low-sensitization responders. These findings suggest that brain-structure and neuronal activation to noxious stimulation differs according to secondary hyperalgesia phenotype. This indicates differences in central sensitization according to phenotype, which may have predictive value on the susceptibility to development of high-intensity acute and persistent pain. (Less)
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author
; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
PLoS ONE
volume
10
issue
1
article number
e0114840
publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
external identifiers
  • pmid:25615578
  • wos:000349122100005
  • scopus:84921813916
  • pmid:25615578
ISSN
1932-6203
DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0114840
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
7366a4e0-bf0f-4209-a8cd-ebf7bc7268d8 (old id 5039904)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 14:43:18
date last changed
2022-03-06 20:52:02
@article{7366a4e0-bf0f-4209-a8cd-ebf7bc7268d8,
  abstract     = {{Noxious stimulation of the skin with either chemical, electrical or heat stimuli leads to the development of primary hyperalgesia at the site of injury, and to secondary hyperalgesia in normal skin surrounding the injury. Secondary hyperalgesia is inducible in most individuals and is attributed to central neuronal sensitization. Some individuals develop large areas of secondary hyperalgesia (high-sensitization responders), while others develop small areas (low-sensitization responders). The magnitude of each area is reproducible within individuals, and can be regarded as a phenotypic characteristic. To study differences in the propensity to develop central sensitization we examined differences in brain activity and anatomy according to individual phenotypical expression of secondary hyperalgesia by magnetic resonance imaging. Forty healthy volunteers received a first-degree burn-injury (47°C, 7 min, 9 cm2) on the non-dominant lower-leg. Areas of secondary hyperalgesia were assessed 100 min after the injury. We measured neuronal activation by recording blood-oxygen-level-dependent-signals (BOLD-signals) during mechanical noxious stimulation before burn injury and in both primary and secondary hyperalgesia areas after burn-injury. In addition, T1-weighted images were used to measure differences in gray-matter density in cortical and subcortical regions of the brain. We found significant differences in neuronal activity between high- and low-sensitization responders at baseline (before application of the burn-injury) (p &lt; 0.05). After the burn-injury, we found significant differences between responders during noxious stimulation of both primary (p &lt; 0.01) and secondary hyperalgesia (p ≤ 0.04) skin areas. A decreased volume of the right (p = 0.001) and left caudate nucleus (p = 0.01) was detected in high-sensitization responders in comparison to low-sensitization responders. These findings suggest that brain-structure and neuronal activation to noxious stimulation differs according to secondary hyperalgesia phenotype. This indicates differences in central sensitization according to phenotype, which may have predictive value on the susceptibility to development of high-intensity acute and persistent pain.}},
  author       = {{Asghar, Mohammad Sohail and Pereira, Manuel Pedro and Werner, Mads Utke and Mårtensson, Johan and Larsson, Henrik B W and Dahl, Jørgen Berg}},
  issn         = {{1932-6203}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  publisher    = {{Public Library of Science (PLoS)}},
  series       = {{PLoS ONE}},
  title        = {{Secondary Hyperalgesia Phenotypes Exhibit Differences in Brain Activation during Noxious Stimulation.}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0114840}},
  doi          = {{10.1371/journal.pone.0114840}},
  volume       = {{10}},
  year         = {{2015}},
}