Spinal cord injury (SCI) results in severe somatosensory and locomotor impairments. The project will investigate the role of glutamate receptors in chronic pand pharmacological techniques. The rats used will receive a spinal contusion injury, which best resembles blunt impact trauma in human SCI. Mechanical and thermal allodynia will be tested behaviorally. Extracellular recordings of spinal cord neurons in anesthetized rats will be used to test the following hypotheses: 1) Spinal cord injury produces central sensitization of dorsal horn neurons, which can be measured by electrophysiological techniques. 2) Increased activation state of ionotropic (NMDA and non-NMDA) glutamate receptors following SCI contributes to central sensitization and thus to CCP.
The Specific Aims are: 1) To analyze SCI-evoked changes of responsiveness of nociceptive spinal dorsal horn neurons to peripheral mechanical and thermal stimuli. 2) To determine the contribution of ionotropic glutamate receptors in SCI-evoked changes in nociceptive dorsal horn neurons. These results will provide important new information on the electrophysiological and pharmacological mechanisms of chronic central pain after SCI. They will also provide valuable insight into the potential therapeutic value of ionotropic glutamate receptors as targets for pain relief after SCI. ? ?

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Type
Individual Predoctoral NRSA for M.D./Ph.D. Fellowships (ADAMHA) (F30)
Project #
5F30NS044692-04
Application #
7047732
Study Section
NST-2 Subcommittee (NST)
Program Officer
Porter, Linda L
Project Start
2003-04-01
Project End
2006-08-31
Budget Start
2006-04-01
Budget End
2006-08-31
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
2006
Total Cost
$11,175
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Texas Medical Br Galveston
Department
Neurosciences
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
800771149
City
Galveston
State
TX
Country
United States
Zip Code
77555