• 한방재활의학과학회지
• /
• 제20권2호
• /
• pp.183-190
• /
• 2010

Objectives : This study was designed to evaluate clinical effects of Hua-Tuo-Jia-Ji-Xue acupuncture treatment to neuropathic pain of patients with spinal cord injury. Methods : The clinical study was carried out 5 cases with spinal cord injury, who had been treated from December, 2008 to November, 2009 in the department of oriental rehabilitation medicine, Dong-Guk university oriental medical hospital. Results : After treating Hua-Tuo-Jia-Ji-Xue acupuncture, we find out that the VAS(Visual Analog Scale) score was significantly improved after treatment. Conclusions : These result suggest that Hua-Tuo-Jia-Ji-Xue acupuncture were effective to neuropathic pain of spinal cord injury patients.

• International Journal of Oral Biology
• /
• 제42권3호
• /
• pp.129-135
• /
• 2017

The present study investigated the role of spinal glutamate recycling in the development of orofacial inflammatory pain or trigeminal neuropathic pain. Experiments were carried out on male Sprague-Dawley rats weighing between 230 and 280 g. Under anesthesia, a polyethylene tube was implanted in the atlanto-occipital membrane for intracisternal administration. IL-$1{\beta}$-induced inflammation was employed as an orofacial acute inflammatory pain model. IL-$1{\beta}$ (10 ng) was injected subcutaneously into one vibrissal pad. We used the trigeminal neuropathic pain animal model produced by chronic constriction injury of the infraorbital nerve. DL-threo-${\beta}$-benzyloxyaspartate (TBOA) or methionine sulfoximine (MSO) was administered intracisternally to block the spinal glutamate transporter and the glutamine synthetase activity in astroglia. Intracisternal administration of TBOA produced mechanical allodynia in naïve rats, but it significantly attenuated mechanical allodynia in rats with interleukin (IL)-$1{\beta}$-induced inflammatory pain or trigeminal neuropathic pain. In contrast, intracisternal injection of MSO produced anti-allodynic effects in rats treated with IL-$1{\beta}$ or with infraorbital nerve injury. Intracisternal administration of MSO did not produce mechanical allodynia in naive rats. These results suggest that blockade of glutamate recycling induced pro-nociception in na?ve rats, but it paradoxically resulted in anti-nociception in rats experiencing inflammatory or neuropathic pain. Moreover, blockade of glutamate reuptake could represent a new therapeutic target for the treatment of chronic pain conditions.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
• /
• 제33권1호
• /
• pp.3-12
• /
• 2020

Neuropathic pain after spinal cord injury (SCI) has a significant negative impact on the patients' quality of life. The objective of this systematic review is to examine the safety and efficacy of pregabalin (PGB) and gabapentin (GBP) in the treatment of neuropathic pain due to SCI. PubMed, the Cochrane Library, Embase, Scopus, and the Web of Science were searched up to December 2018. The reference lists of key and review studies were reviewed for additional citations. The quality of the studies was evaluated using the Cochrane Collaboration's tools for assessing the risk of bias. A meta-analysis was performed for primary and secondary outcomes. Eight studies were eligible for inclusion. Meta-analysis of PGB vs. placebo showed that PGB was effective for neuropathic pain (standardized mean difference [SMD] = -0.40; 95% confidence interval [CI]: -0.78, -0.01), anxiety (MD = -0.68; 95% CI: -0.77, -0.59), depression (mean difference [MD] = -0.99; 95% CI: -1.08, -0.89), and sleep interference (MD = -1.08; 95% CI: -1.13, -1.02). Also, GBP was more effective than a placebo for reducing pain. No significant difference was observed between the efficacy of the two drugs (MD = -0.37; 95% CI: -1.67, 0.93). There was no significant difference between the two drugs for discontinuation due to adverse events (risk ratio = 3.00; 95% CI: 0.81, 11.15). PGB and GBP were effective vs. placebos in decreasing neuropathic pain after SCI. Also, there was no significant difference between the two drugs for decreasing pain and adverse events.

• 대한한의학방제학회지
• /
• 제29권4호
• /
• pp.229-237
• /
• 2021

Objectives: This study aimed to analyze the effectiveness of Sogunjung-tang on neuropathic pain. Methods: This study was conducted on 50 cases of patients with neuropathic pain who were treated in LUA clinic from Jun 2021, to Oct 2021. All patients were treated with Sogunjung-tang, and in some cases, acupuncture or moxibustion was also performed. We measured the efficacy of treatment with a numerical rating scale (NRS), frequency, and duration of pain before treatment, after 1 week, and 3 weeks. Results: Both average pain NRS and worst pain NRS significantly decreased 1 week and 3 weeks after treatment compared to pre-treatment. The frequency and duration of pain did not differ after 1 week of treatment but showed a significant difference after 3 weeks. Conclusions: This study suggests that herbal medicine treatment with Sogunjung-tang reduces pain intensity, frequency, and duration in patients with neuropathic pain.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
• /
• 제35권1호
• /
• pp.43-58
• /
• 2022

Background: Current therapies are quite unsuccessful in the management of neuropathic pain. Therefore, considering the inhibitory characteristics of GABA mediators, the present systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to determine the efficacy of GABAergic neural precursor cells on neuropathic pain management. Methods: Search was conducted on Medline, Embase, Scopus, and Web of Science databases. A search strategy was designed based on the keywords related to GABAergic cells combined with neuropathic pain. The outcomes were allodynia and hyperalgesia. The results were reported as a pooled standardized mean difference (SMD) with a 95% confidence interval (95% CI). Results: Data of 13 studies were analyzed in the present meta-analysis. The results showed that administration of GABAergic cells improved allodynia (SMD = 1.79; 95% CI: 0.87, 271; P < 0.001) and hyperalgesia (SMD = 1.29; 95% CI: 0.26, 2.32; P = 0.019). Moreover, the analyses demonstrated that the efficacy of GABAergic cells in the management of allodynia and hyperalgesia is only observed in rats. Also, only genetically modified cells are effective in improving both of allodynia, and hyperalgesia. Conclusions: A moderate level of pre-clinical evidence showed that transplantation of genetically-modified GABAergic cells is effective in the management of neuropathic pain. However, it seems that the transplantation efficacy of these cells is only statistically significant in improving pain symptoms in rats. Hence, caution should be exercised regarding the generalizability and the translation of the findings from rats and mice studies to large animal studies and clinical trials.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
• /
• 제21권2호
• /
• pp.126-131
• /
• 2013

Neuropathic pain is a chronic pain disorder caused by nervous system lesions as a direct consequence of a lesion or by disease of the portions of the nervous system that normally signal pain. The spinal nerve ligation (SNL) model in rats that reflect some components of clinical pain have played a crucial role in the understanding of neuropathic pain. To investigate the direct effects of gabapentin on differential gene expression in cultured dorsal root ganglion (DRG) cells of SNL model rats, we performed a differential display reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis with random priming approach using annealing control primer. Genes encoding metallothionein 1a, transforming growth factor-${\beta}1$ and palmitoyl-protein thioesterase-2 were up-regulated in gabapentin-treated DRG cells of SNL model rats. The functional roles of these differentially expressed genes were previously suggested as neuroprotective genes. Further study of these genes is expected to reveal potential targets of gabapentin.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
• /
• 제33권4호
• /
• pp.353-374
• /
• 2008

비록 신경병성 동통이 환자에게 주는 심리적 부담에 대하여 잘 알고 있지만 동통의 역학조사에 대해서는 아직 잘 알려져 있지 않다. 신경병성 동통의 정확한 발병률도 잘 알려져 있지 않은 데, 이는 여러가지 새로운 의료기기가 개발되었지만 정확한 진단을 하지 못하고 있으며, 적절한 치료를 제대로 하지 못하기 때문이다. 본 연구의 목적은 한국내 모든 종류의 병원에서 치료한 몇 가지 특정 신경병성 동통에 대하여 역학조사를 시행하는 것이다. 2003년 1월부터 2005년 12월까지 건강보험심사평가원(심평원)의 전산에 입력된 환자들을 대상으로 조사한 신경병성 동통 환자와 치료 받은 과 및 치료기간 등에 대하여 조사하였다. 신경병성 동통 환자의 수와 유병률을 살펴보면 삼차신경통 77,053명(27.6%), 비정형적 안면통 12,382명(4.4%), 설인후 신경통 1,319명(0.5%), 포진후 신경통 84,598명(30.3명), 당뇨병성 신경통 85,989명(30.8%), 비정형적 치통 16,001명(5.7%), 설통 2,133명(0.8%) 이며, 시간이 경과함에 따라 포진후 신경통과 당뇨병성 신경통은 증가하는 경향을 보이나, 그 외 신경통은 대부분 증가가 둔화되는 양상을 보였다. 대부분의 환자들은 57.6-72.8% 에 이르도록 1차 의료기관인 개인의원에서 치료받았으나 비정형적 치통의 경우에만 10.3% 정도로 1차 의료기관에서 진료받는 비율이 낮았다. 치과의원에 내원하는 환자의 비율은 삼차신경통 3.2%, 비정형적 치통 35.4%, 설통 15.4%이며 그 외 나머지 신경병성 동통은 대부분 의원에서 치료받았다.

• Journal of Dental Anesthesia and Pain Medicine
• /
• 제16권1호
• /
• pp.1-8
• /
• 2016

Most dental pain is caused by an organic problem such as dental caries, periodontitis, pulpitis, or trauma. Diagnosis and treatment of these symptoms are relatively straightforward. However, patients often also complain of abnormal dental pain that has a non-dental origin, whose diagnosis is challenging. Such abnormal dental pain can be categorized on the basis of its cause as referred pain, neuromodulatory pain, and neuropathic pain. When it is difficult to diagnose a patient's dental pain, these potential alternate causes should be considered. In this clinical review, we have presented a case of referred pain from the digastric muscle (Patient 1), of pulpectomized (Patient 2), and of pulpectomized pain (Patient 3) to illustrate referred, neuromodulatory, and neuropathic pain, respectively. The Patient 1 was advised muscle stretching and gentle massage of the trigger points, as well as pain relief using a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory and the tricyclic antidepressant amitriptyline. The pain in Patient 2 was relieved completely by the tricyclic antidepressant amitriptyline. In Patient 3, the pain was controlled using either a continuous drip infusion of adenosine triphosphate or intravenous Mg2+ and lidocaine administered every 2 weeks. In each case of abnormal dental pain, the patient's diagnostic chart was used (Fig.2 and 3). Pain was satisfactorily relieved in all cases.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
• /
• 제34권4호
• /
• pp.463-470
• /
• 2021

Background: Although neuropathic pain is a severe and common pain, its pathophysiology has not been elucidated yet. Studies in recent years have focused on the immune system's role in the pathogenesis of neuropathic pain. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of immunological mechanisms in neuropathic pain and the effect of pregabalin by measuring immunological marker levels in peripheral blood before and after pregabalin treatment in postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) patients with neuropathic pain. Methods: Forty patients diagnosed with PHN were included in the study. CD4, T follicular cells (Tfh: CD4⁺CXCR5⁺PD1⁺), Th17 (CD4⁺CCR6⁺ and CD4⁺IL17A⁺), regulatory T cells (Treg: CD4⁺ CD25⁺foxp3⁺), Th1 (CD4⁺ CXCR3⁺ and CD4⁺ IFN-γ⁺) and Th2 (CD4⁺ IL-4⁺) cell ratios were measured in peripheral blood samples before treatment and after 3 months of treatment. Results: When immunological marker and inflammation parameter levels were compared before and after treatment, the helper T cell ratio (CD3⁺, CD4⁺) was 30.28 ± 12.27% before treatment and 34.93 ± 11.70% after treatment, so there was a statistically significant increase (P = 0.028). Th17 was 4.75 ± 5.02% before treatment and 5.80 ± 3.13% after treatment, and there was a statistically significant increase (P = 0.036). Conclusions: Immunological mechanisms play an essential role in the pathogenesis of neuropathic pain, immunologically based treatment approach will be the critical point of treatment.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
• /
• 제39권4호
• /
• pp.132-141
• /
• 2022

Objectives : Some acupoints are commonly utilized to treat a variety of diseases. The acupoints appear to have a wide range of effects caused by several mechanisms. The purpose of this study is to investigate into the potential role of microRNAs (miRNAs) in the multipotent effects of individual acupoint stimulation. Methods : We examined the miRNA expressions in the dorsal root ganglia (DRG) of neuropathic or inflammatory pain rats following ST36 and GB34 electroacupuncture (EA) stimulation. Neuropathic pain was induced by L5 spinal nerve ligation. Inflammatory pain was induced by knee joint injection of Complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA). EA was given under gaseous anesthesia with the same parameters (1mA, 2Hz, 30 min) in 5 consecutive days. Pain behaviors and miRNA expressions were analyzed. Results : In rats with neuropathic and inflammatory pain, EA treatments significantly enhanced the paw withdrawal threshold and weight-bearing force. After nerve injury, 36 miRNAs were upregulated in the DRG of neuropathic rats, while EA downregulated 10 of them. Furthermore, 14 miRNAs were downregulated following nerve damage, while one was increased by EA. 15 miRNAs were increased in the DRG of inflammatory rats following CFA injection, while 5 were downregulated by EA. Furthermore, 17 miRNAs were downregulated following CFA injection, while 7 were increased by EA. The miRNAs rno-miR-335, rno-miR-381-5p, rno-miR-1306-3p, and rno-miR-1839-3p were regulated by EA in both models. Conclusions : In two pain models, EA applied to ST36 and GB34 regulated miRNA expression differently. There appeared to be both acupoint-specific and non-specific miRNAs, and miRNA regulation of differential protein expression may modulate a variety of EA mechanisms.