• Applied Microscopy
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• 제45권3호
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• pp.135-143
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• 2015

The aim of this study was to investigate effects on joint mobilization in neurochemical changes of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-diaphorase (NADPH-d) and nitric oxide synthase (NOS) of the spinal cord neurons after right knee joint immobilization (RKJI) and in ultrastructural changes of the femoral nerves innervating the muscles acting on RKJI. A total of 15 guinea pigs were used and divided into 5 groups. Immunohistochemistry was performed to detect NADPH-d and NOS. NADPH-d and NOS were not expressed in the ventral horn of control and experimental groups, but were expressed or not in the dorsal horn according to the duration of release after RKJI and the presence or absence of joint mobilization. Ultrastructures of the femoral nerves in experimental groups had partial demyelination and condensed clumps in axon. Effects on manipulative therapy after RKJI were confirmed from expression of NADPH-d and NOS in the dorsal horn of the lumbosacral spinal cord. Manipulative therapy was more effective against a long-term immobilization than a short-term immobilization.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• 제16권2호
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• pp.169-180
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• 2004

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of TENS on muscle pain induced by carrageenan. Muscle pain was induced in male Sprague-Dowley rats by intra-muscular injection of gastrocnemius with $3\%$ carrageenan. nNOS was measured to assess the effect of TENS on muscle pain induced by Carrageenan. The lumbar enlargement of the spinal cord was removed in different groups of animals 24 h after induction of muscle pain. The level of nNOS mRNA was measured in the lumbar section of the spinal cord using RT-PCT. The expression of nNOS was analyzed in the dorsal horn of the lumbar spinal cord by immunohistochemistry. TENS decreased nNOS immunoreactivity in the dorsal horn of the lumbar spinal cord when compared with controls(p<.05). In RT-PCR, TENS decreased nNOS mRNA level of lumbar spinal cord when compared with controls(p<.05). These results suggested that application of TENS attributed to decrease muscle pain.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• 제15권1호
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• pp.9-25
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• 2003

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of therapeutic ultrasound after muscle contusion injury by observed immunoreactivity of substance-P that plays an important role in pain transmission. Ultrasound irradiation(1MHz, 1W/$cm^{2}$ continuous mode, treatment time 5 min) was applied through water submersion technique to 1 limb daily by kept off 5cm from muscle belly of gastrocnemius. The result of this study were as follows. 1. The substance-P was expressed in lamina I and II of dorsal horn of spinal cord, also in lamina IV and around of central cannel of spinal cord. Experimental group was lower expressed than control group with the exception of 1 days. 2. The substance-P immunoreactivity was decreased for 5 days together in lumbar and sacral region of all groups, expecially experimental group was rapidly. These data suggest therapeutic ultrasound may stimulate pain relief by diminish of substance-P in dorsal horn of spinal cord.

• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• 제37권3호
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• pp.121-129
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• 2012

Previous clinical studies have demonstrated that gabapentin, a drug that binds to the voltage-gated calcium channel ${\alpha}2{\delta}1$ subunit proteins, is effective in the management of neuropathic pain, but there is limited evidence that addresses the participation of glial cells in the antiallodynic effects of this drug. The present study investigated the participation of glial cells in the anti-nociceptive effects of gabapentin in rats with trigeminal neuropathic pain produced by mal-positioned dental implants. Under anesthesia, the left mandibular second molar was extracted and replaced by a miniature dental implant to induce injury to the inferior alveolar nerve. Mal-positioned dental implants significantly decreased the air-puff thresholds both ipsilateral and contralateral to the injury site. Gabapentin was administered intracisternally beginning on postoperative day (POD) 1 or on POD 7 for three days. Early or late treatment with 0.3, 3, or 30 ${\mu}g$ of gabapentin produced significant anti-allodynic effect in the rats with mal-positioned dental implants. On POD 9, in the mal-positioned dental implants group, OX-42, a microglia marker, and GFAP, an astrocyte marker, were found to be up-regulated in the medullary dorsal horn, compared with the naive group. However, the intracisternal administration of gabapentin (30 ${\mu}g$) failed to reduce the number of activated microglia or astrocytes in the medullary dorsal horn. These findings suggest that gabapentin produces significant antinociceptive effects, which are not mediated by the inhibition of glial cell function in the medullary dorsal horn, in a rat model of trigeminal neuropathic pain.

• 한국응용약물학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국응용약물학회 1996년도 춘계학술대회
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• pp.175-175
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• 1996

The spinal dorsal horn is the area where primary afferent fibers terminate and cutaneous sensory information is Processed. A number of putative neurotransmitter substances, including excitatory and inhibitory amino acids and peptides, are present in this region and sites and cellular mechanisms of their actions have been a target of numerous studies. In this study, single neurons were acutely isolated and the properties of whole cell current and responses to excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters were studied by the patch clamp method. Young rats (7-14 days) were anesthetized with diethyl-ether, and the lumbar spinal cord was excised and cut transversely at a thickness of 30$\mu\textrm{m}$ by Vibroslicer. The treatment of spinal slices with low concentration of proteases (pronase and thermolysin 0.75 mg/$m\ell$) and mechanical dissociation yielded isolated neurons with near intact morphology. Multipolar, ellipsoidal and bipolar, and pyramidal cells were shown. By applying step voltage pulses to neurons held at -70 mV, two types of inward currents and one outward currents observed. The fast activating and inactivating inward current was the Na$\^$+/ current because of its fast kinetics and blocking by 0.5${\mu}$M TTX, a specific blocker of Na$\^$+/ channel. The second type of inward currents were sustained. Based on their kinetics and current-voltage relations, it was likely that the second type of inward current was the voltage-dependent Ca$\^$2+/ current. In the presence of TTX, the steady-state currents mainly represented outward K$\^$+/ current which looked like the delayed rectifier K$\^$+/ current. In addition, the membrane currents produced by agonist of excitatory amino acid (EAA) receptor and the endogenous transmitter candidate L-glutamate were recorded in isolated whole-cell voltage clamped neurons as well as responses to inhibitory amino acids (${\gamma}$-amino butyric acid, glycine). Drugs were applied by a method that allows complete exchange of the solution within 1 sec; an infinite number of solutions can be applied to a single cell.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology
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• 제24권1호
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• pp.171-180
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• 1990

In 19 cats anesthetized with ${\alpha}-chloralose$ effects of taurine and ${\beta}-alanine$ on the responses of wide dynamic range (WDR) cells to mechanical, chemical and thermal stimuli were investigated in the lumbar spinal cord of the cat. Also studied was an interaction of strychnine with taurine in affecting the activities of WDR cells. Following intravenous administration of taurine, the responses of WDR cells to all types of mechanical stimuli were markedly enhanced, demonstrating that the response to pressure was most sensitive to taurine action. When the receptive field was exposed to thermal stimuli ($50^{\circ}C$) for 20 sec. taurine increased activity of WDR cell to 169.5% of the control value. The $K^{+}$-induced activation of WDR cells was invariably suppressed after taurine administration. Intravenously administered strychnine remarkably reduced the enhanced response of WDR cell to natural stimuli resulting from intravenous administration of taurine. Also ${\beta}-alanine$ markedly activated the response of spinal dorsal horn cell to natural mechanical stimuli. These findings suggest that neutral amino acid and its derivative such as ${\beta}-alanine$ and taurine can enhance the response of WDR cells to different stimuli in cats.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• 제33권3호
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• pp.227-237
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• 2007

Microglial cell activation is known to contribute to neuropathic pain following spinal sensory nerve injuries. In this study, I investigated its mechanisms in the case of trigeminal sensory nerve injuries by which microglial cell and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK) activation in the medullary dorsal horn (MDH) would contribute to the facial pain hypersensitivity following mandibular nerve transection (MNT). And also investigated the changes of trigeminal ganglion neurons and ERK, p38 MAPK manifestations. Activation of microglial cells was monitored at 1, 3, 7, 14, 28 and 60 day using immunohistochemical analyses. Microglial cell activation was primarily observed in the superficial laminae of the MDH. Microglial cell activation was initiated at postoperative 1 day, maximal at 3 day, maintained until 14 day and gradually reduced and returned to the basal level by 60 days after MNT. Pain hypersensitivity was also initiated and attenuated almost in parallel with microglial cell activation pattern. To investigate the contribution of the microglial cell activation to the pain hypersensitivity, minocycline, an inhibitor of microglial cell activation by means of p38 MAPK inhibition, was administered. Minocycline dose-dependently attenuated the development of the pain hypersensitivity in parallel with inhibition of microglial cell and p38 MAPK activation following MNT. Mandibular nerve transection induced the activation of ERK, but did not p38 MAPK in the trigeminal ganglion. These results suggest that microglial cell activation in the MDH and p38 MAPK activation in the hyperactive microglial cells play an important role in the development of facial neuropathic pain following MNT. The results also suggest that ERK activation in the trigeminal ganglion contributes microglial cell activation and facial neuropathic pain.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• 제50권5호
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• pp.420-425
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• 2011

Objective : Excitatory amino acids play important roles in the development of secondary pathology following spinal cord injury (SCI). This study was designed to evaluate morphological changes in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord and assess profiles of pain behaviors following intraspinal injection of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) or quisqualate (QUIS) in rats. Methods : Forty male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomized into three groups : a sham, and two experimental groups receiving injections of 125 mM NMDA or QUIS into their spinal dorsal horn. Following injection, hypersensitivity to cold and mechanical stimuli, and excessive grooming behaviors were assessed serially for four weeks. At the end of survival periods, morphological changes in the spinal cord were evaluated. Results : Cold allodynia was developed in both the NMDA and QUIS groups, which was significantly higher in the QUIS group than in the NMDA group. The mechanical threshold for the ipsilateral hind paw in both QUIS and NMDA groups was significantly lower than that in the control group. The number of groomers was significantly higher in the NMDA group than in the QUIS group. The size of the neck region of the spinal dorsal horn, but not the superficial layer, was significantly smaller in the NMDA and QUIS groups than in the control group. Conclusion : Intraspinal injection of NMDA or QUIS can be used as an excitotoxic model of SCI for further research on spinal neuropathic pain.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• 제22권4호
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• pp.419-425
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• 2018

The superficial dorsal horn of the spinal cord plays an important role in pain transmission and opioid activity. Several studies have demonstrated that opioids modulate pain transmission, and the activation of ${\mu}$-opioid receptors (MORs) by opioids contributes to analgesic effects in the spinal cord. However, the effect of the activation of MORs on GABAergic interneurons and the contribution to the analgesic effect are much less clear. In this study, using transgenic mice, which allow the identification of GABAergic interneurons, we investigated how the activation of MORs affects the excitability of GABAergic interneurons and synaptic transmission between primary nociceptive afferent and GABAergic interneurons. We found that a selective ${\mu}$-opioid agonist, [$D-Ala^2$, $NMe-Phe^4$, Gly-ol]-enkephanlin (DAMGO), induced an outward current mediated by $K^+$ channels in GABAergic interneurons. In addition, DAMGO reduced the amplitude of evoked excitatory postsynaptic currents (EPSCs) of GABAergic interneurons which receive monosynaptic inputs from primary nociceptive C fibers. Taken together, we found that DAMGO reduced the excitability of GABAergic interneurons and synaptic transmission between primary nociceptive C fibers and GABAergic interneurons. These results suggest one possibility that suppression of GABAergic interneurons by DMAGO may reduce the inhibition on secondary GABAergic interneurons, which increase the inhibition of the secondary GABAergic interneurons to excitatory neurons in the spinal dorsal horn. In this circumstance, the sum of excitation of the entire spinal network will control the pain transmission.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• 제3권3호
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• pp.237-244
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• 1999

Magnesium ion is known to selectively block the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)-induced responses and to have anticonvulsive action, neuroprotective effect and antinociceptive action in the behavioral test. In this study, we investigated the effect of $Mg^{2+}$ on the responses of dorsal horn neurons to cutaneous thermal stimulation and graded electrical stimulation of afferent nerves as well as to excitatory amino acids and also elucidated whether the actions of $Ca^{2+}$ and $Mg^{2+}$ are additive or antagonistic. $Mg^{2+}$ suppressed the thermal and C-fiber responses of wide dynamic range (WDR) cell without any effect on the A-fiber responses. When $Mg^{2+}$ was directly applied onto the spinal cord, its inhibitory effect was dependent on the concentration of $Mg^{2+}$ and duration of application. The NMDA- and kainate-induced responses of WDR cell were suppressed by $Mg^{2+}$, the NMDA-induced responses being inhibited more strongly. $Ca^{2+}$ also inhibited the NMDA-induced responses current-dependently. Both inhibitory actions of $Mg^{2+}$ and $Ca^{2+}$ were additive, while $Mg^{2+}$ suppressed the EGTA-induced augmentation of WDR cell responses to NMDA and C-fiber stimulation. Magnesium had dual effects on the spontaneous activities of WDR cell. These experimental findings suggest that $Mg^{2+}$ is implicated in the modulation of pain in the rat spinal cord by inhibiting the responses of WDR cell to noxious stimuli more strongly than innocuous stimuli.