Neuropathic pain is a chronic condition of heterogeneous symptoms resulting from peripheral and/or central nerve damage characterized by hyperalgesia and allodynia. Tragically, an estimated 60-80% of persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) experience neuropathic pain with 1/3 describing their pain as severe. Although there are currently preclinical models of SCI-induced pain, there have been few successes in translation of new treatment from rodent models to clinical practice, suggesting that development of highly clinically-relevant preclinical model will facilitate discovery and translation of new treatments. Since pigs are very similar to humans in many aspects of physiology and pathophysiology, we hypothesize that a porcine model of SCI- induced neuropathic pain is a much need tool to improve the discovery of new treatments. Thus, we propose to assess and detail the porcine spinal cord neuroanatomy using state-of-the art neuronavigation and anatomical characterizations, as are used in clinical practice. We will also evaluate post-SCI neuropathic pain using procedures that mimic clinical evaluations and include supraspinal responses.

Public Health Relevance

An estimated 60-80% of persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) experience neuropathic pain with 1/3 describing their pain as severe. Although there are currently preclinical models of SCI-induced pain, there have been few successes in translation of new treatments from rodent models to clinical practice, suggesting that development of highly clinically-relevant preclinical model will facilitate discovery and translation of new treatments. Since pigs are very similar to humans in many aspects of physiology and pathophysiology, we hypothesize that a porcine model of SCI-induced neuropathic pain is a much needed tool to improve the discovery of new treatments. Thus, in this research we will characterize and validate a new porcine model of SCI-induced neuropathic pain.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Veterans Affairs (VA)
Type
Veterans Administration (I21)
Project #
5I21RX002200-02
Application #
9297109
Study Section
Rehabilitation Research and Development SPiRE Program (RRDS)
Project Start
2016-07-01
Project End
2018-06-30
Budget Start
2017-07-01
Budget End
2018-06-30
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2017
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Birmingham VA Medical Center
Department
Type
DUNS #
082140880
City
Birmingham
State
AL
Country
United States
Zip Code
35233
Leonard, Anna Victoria; Menendez, Joshua York; Pat, Betty Maki et al. (2017) Localization of the corticospinal tract within the porcine spinal cord: Implications for experimental modeling of traumatic spinal cord injury. Neurosci Lett 648:1-7