Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0030193 (pain)
 261,466 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Pain is unique among sensations in that the perceived intensity increases, or sensitizes, during exposure to a strong stimulus. One important mediator of sensitization is bradykinin (BK), a peptide released as a consequence of tissue damage. BK enhances the membrane ionic current activated by heat in nociceptive neurons, using a pathway that involves activation of protein kinase C (PKC). We find that five PKC isoforms are present in sensory neurons but that only PKC-epsilon is translocated to the cell membrane by BK. The heat response is sensitized when constitutively active PKC-epsilon is incorporated into nociceptive neurons. Conversely, BK-induced sensitization is suppressed by a specific peptide inhibitor of PKC-epsilon. We conclude that PKC-epsilon is principally responsible for sensitization of the heat response in nociceptors by bradykinin.
 ...
PMID:Specific involvement of PKC-epsilon in sensitization of the neuronal response to painful heat. 1043 72

Although there is now unequivocal evidence that the circuitry within the substantia gelatinosa is a major contributor to the transmission and control of nociceptive messages, this was not known 35 years ago, when Pat Wall first focussed attention on this region. In addition to being the target of neurochemically distinct nociceptors, this region contains a heterogeneous population of excitatory and inhibitory interneurons. This review focuses on the contribution of second messenger systems that are found in the substantia gelatinosa. In particular the review highlights their critical contribution to the development of persistent pain conditions in the setting of tissue and nerve injury. Several of the studies used animals with deletions of genes that encode major second messenger molecules, including protein kinase A, C and nitric oxide synthase. Our laboratory has shown that mice with a deletion of the gene that encodes the gamma isoform of protein kinase C (which is almost exclusively expressed in a population of interneurons of the inner part of the substantia gelatinosa) have completely normal acute pain responses. However, the allodynia that characteristically develops after injury does not occur in these mice, particularly when it is generated by partial sciatic nerve injury. By contrast, deletion of genes that encode protein kinase A subunits only show deficits in the development of tissue inflammation-induced pain. These differences highlight the selectivity that characterizes the contribution of different second messenger molecules. Because of the restricted distribution of these molecules, it is likely that they are activated by different populations of primary afferent nociceptor and under very different conditions of injury. Understanding the circuitry within the substantia gelatinosa is thus critical to elucidating the mechanisms through which these second messenger molecules contribute to the development of persistent pain in the setting of injury.
Pain 1999 Aug
PMID:Second messengers, the substantia gelatinosa and injury-induced persistent pain. 1049 67

In the skin, noxious heating induces an axon reflex response which is commonly accepted to be due to the release of vasodilatory neuropeptides from polymodal nociceptors. In the present study, the quantitative assessment of calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) release from rat skin serves as an integrative measure of primary afferent activation by noxious heat and the presumed sensitising action of bradykinin and an activator of protein kinase C (PKC). The isolated rat hairy skin of either hind paw was mounted on acrylic rods and exposed for 5 min periods to synthetic interstitial fluid of either 32 degrees C for control or of higher temperatures up to 59 degrees C during stimulation. In addition, experiments were performed in calcium free solution (containing 10 mM EGTA) or the skin was preloaded with the membrane permeant calcium chelator BAPTA-AM (1 mM). To look for modulatory effects on the heat responses, bradykinin or polymyristate-acetate (PMA) were added during heat stimulation in further experiments. Heating the skin induced a temperature-dependent release of CGRP from a threshold of 43 degrees C which was absent in calcium free solution. Only at the highest temperatures (55 and 59 degrees C) was a partially calcium-independent release observed. Inhibition of the release was also obtained with the intracellular calcium buffer BAPTA-AM. Bradykinin 10 but not 1 microM as well as PMA 1 and 10 microM significantly facilitated the heat-induced CGRP release at 47 degrees C whereby BK caused a marginal and PMA a significant CGRP release by itself. Our results indicate that moderate noxious heat induces calcium-dependent CGRP release and this can be facilitated by bradykinin and by the activation of PKC. This suggests the same sensitising mechanism that affects nociceptor heat responses.
Pain 1999 Nov
PMID:Heat-induced release of CGRP from isolated rat skin and effects of bradykinin and the protein kinase C activator PMA. 1053 1

Angiogenesis, the formation of new capillary blood vessels, is essential not only for the growth and metastasis of solid tumors, but also for wound and ulcer healing, because without the restoration of blood flow, oxygen and nutrients cannot be delivered to the healing site. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as aspirin, indomethacin and ibuprofen are the most widely used drugs for pain, arthritis, cardiovascular diseases and, more recently, the prevention of colon cancer and Alzheimer disease. However, NSAIDs produce gastroduodenal ulcers in about 25% of users (often with bleeding and/or perforations) and delay ulcer healing, presumably by blocking prostaglandin synthesis from cyclooxygenase (COX)-1 and COX-2 (ref. 10). The hypothesis that the gastrointestinal side effects of NSAIDs result from inhibition of COX-1, but not COX-2 (ref. 11), prompted the development of NSAIDs that selectively inhibit only COX-2 (such as celecoxib and rofecoxib). Our study demonstrates that both selective and nonselective NSAIDs inhibit angiogenesis through direct effects on endothelial cells. We also show that this action involves inhibition of mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase (ERK2) activity, interference with ERK nuclear translocation, is independent of protein kinase C and has prostaglandin-dependent and prostaglandin-independent components. Finally, we show that both COX-1 and COX-2 are important for the regulation of angiogenesis. These findings challenge the premise that selective COX-2 inhibitors will not affect the gastrointestinal tract and ulcer/wound healing.
 ...
PMID:Inhibition of angiogenesis by nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs: insight into mechanisms and implications for cancer growth and ulcer healing. 1058 Oct 68

There is great interest in discovering new targets for pain therapy since current methods of analgesia are often only partially successful. Although protein kinase C (PKC) enhances nociceptor function, it is not known which PKC isozymes contribute. Here, we show that epinephrine-induced mechanical and thermal hyperalgesia and acetic acid-associated hyperalgesia are markedly attenuated in PKCepsilon mutant mice, but baseline nociceptive thresholds are normal. Moreover, epinephrine-, carrageenan-, and nerve growth factor- (NGF-) induced hyperalgesia in normal rats, and epinephrine-induced enhancement of tetrodotoxin-resistant Na+ current (TTX-R I(Na)) in cultured rat dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons, are inhibited by a PKCepsilon-selective inhibitor peptide. Our findings indicate that PKCepsilon regulates nociceptor function and suggest that PKCepsilon inhibitors could prove useful in the treatment of pain.
 ...
PMID:A novel nociceptor signaling pathway revealed in protein kinase C epsilon mutant mice. 1067 42

The neuropeptide galanin has been identified as a potential neurotransmitter/neuromodulator within the central nervous system. In the present study, the role of endogenous galanin in nociceptive processing in the nervous system has been analysed by using mice carrying a targeted mutation in the galanin gene. Supporting this, the effect of chronic administration of exogenous galanin on nociceptive sensory inputs has been assayed in adult rats. In the absence of peripheral nerve injury, the sensitivity to threshold noxious stimuli is significantly higher in galanin mutant mice than wild-type controls. Following peripheral nerve injury, in conditions under which endogenous galanin levels are elevated, spontaneous and evoked neuropathic pain behaviours are compromised in mutant mice. Conversely, chronic intrathecal delivery of exogenous galanin to nerve-intact adult rats is associated with persistent behavioural hypersensitivity, a significant increase in c-fos expression and an increase in PKCgamma immunoreactivity within the spinal cord dorsal horn. The present results demonstrate that a relationship exists between the degree of nerve injury-induced galanin expression and the degree of behavioural hypersensitivity, and show that galanin may play a role in nociceptive processing in the spinal cord, with interrelated inhibitory and excitatory effects.
 ...
PMID:Galanin knockout mice reveal nociceptive deficits following peripheral nerve injury. 1076 8

It has been hypothesized that spinal morphine tolerance results from protein kinase C (PKC) mediated phosphorylation. Chronic lumbar intrathecal (i.t.) infusion of morphine (20 nmol/microl/h) was shown to produce antinociception on day 1 (d1) that disappeared by d5 (tolerance). On d6, a bolus i.t. probe dose of morphine (60 nmol) produced a more profound antinociception in saline-infused rats than in morphine-infused rats. Coinfusion of morphine with a PKC inhibitor, chelerythrine, prevented tolerance to the probe morphine dose. Bolus i.t. chelerythrine or GF109203X (GF), another PKC inhibitor, on d5, but not the inactive homologue of GF Bisindolymaleimide V, also blocked development of tolerance after 24 h. I.t. morphine infusion, but not saline, produced a 2-fold increase in dorsal horn PKC phosphorylating activity and in the expression of PKCalpha/gamma. Bolus chelerythrine on d5 after spinal morphine infusion blocked upon an increase in PKC activity, confirming that at the behaviorally active dose the drug had the intended biochemical effect upon spinal PKC activity. PKC activity and protein expression did not change when assessed 1 h after bolus i.t. morphine in naive rats. Thus, tolerance produced by morphine infusion is dependent upon an increase in local phosphorylating activity by PKC. Blocking the PKC activity prevents expression of the morphine tolerance.
Pain 2000 Apr
PMID:Spinal PKC activity and expression: role in tolerance produced by continuous spinal morphine infusion. 1078 12

To further study the roles of spinal protein kinase C (PKC) in induction and maintenance of both the persistent spontaneous nociception and the contralateral heat hyperalgesia induced by subcutaneous (s.c.) bee venom injection, the effects of intrathecal (i.t.) treatment with a PKC inhibitor, chelerythrine chloride (CH), were evaluated in conscious rats. Pre-treatment i.t. with CH at three doses of 0.01, 0.1 and 1 nmol produced a dose-dependent suppressive effect on the flinching reflex with the inhibitory rates of 39, 48 and 59%, respectively, when compared with the pre-saline control group. Post-treatment i.t. with the drug at the highest dose used (1 nmol) also resulted in a 42% suppression of the flinching reflex compared with the control. Moreover, pre-treatment i.t. with CH at three doses of 0.01, 0.1 and 1 nmol also produced 12, 22 and 48% inhibition of the contralateral heat hyperalgesia in the pre-saline control group. Post-treatment i.t. with the drug at the highest dose used (1 nmol) also resulted in a 35% reversal effect on the established contralateral heat hyperalgesia. The present result suggests that activation of PKC in the spinal cord contributes to the induction and maintenance of both peripherally-dependent persistent spontaneous pain and contralateral heat hyperalgesia which is dependent upon central sensitization.
 ...
PMID:Involvement of spinal protein kinase C in induction and maintenance of both persistent spontaneous flinching reflex and contralateral heat hyperalgesia induced by subcutaneous bee venom in the conscious rat. 1079 37

We have identified a mechanism, mediated by the epsilon isozyme of protein kinase C (PKCepsilon) in peripheral neurons, which may have a role in chronic inflammatory pain. Acute inflammation, produced by carrageenan injection in the rat hindpaw, produced mechanical hyperalgesia that resolved by 72 hr. However, for up to 3 weeks after carrageenan, injection of the inflammatory mediators prostaglandin E(2) or 5-hydroxytryptamine or of an adenosine A(2) agonist into the same site induced a markedly prolonged hyperalgesia (>24 hr compared with 5 hr or less in control rats not pretreated with carrageenan). A nonselective inhibitor of several PKC isozymes and a selective PKCepsilon inhibitor antagonized this prolonged hyperalgesic response equally. Acute carrageenan hyperalgesia could be inhibited by PKA or PKG antagonists. However, these antagonists did not inhibit development of the hypersensitivity to inflammatory mediators. Our findings indicate that different second messenger pathways underlie acute and prolonged inflammatory pain.
 ...
PMID:Chronic hypersensitivity for inflammatory nociceptor sensitization mediated by the epsilon isozyme of protein kinase C. 1084 37

The development of neuropathic pain involves a series of changes including primary and secondary hyperalgesia, peripheral and central sensitization, and wind-up phenomena. Neurotransmitters play a critical role in this process. For example, glutaminergic subtypes of alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) and neurokinin prime the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor by triggering the release of intracellular calcium ions, thus unblocking the magnesium ion plug on the NMDA receptor and allowing Ca2+ influx into the cell. Ca2+ ions acting as secondary messengers initiate protein kinase C activation, phospholipase C and nitric oxide synthetase production, and proto-oncogene expression. The activation of the NMDA receptor thereby increases the responsiveness of the nociceptive system. Anticonvulsant drugs--including carbamazepine, phenytoin, and felbamate--have been used to treat neuropathic pain. Gabapentin is a novel anticonvulsant that may have a unique effect on voltage-dependent Ca2+ channel currents at postsynaptic dorsal horn neurons. Thus, gabapentin may interrupt an entire series of events, not just a single process, that lead to the development of neuropathic pain. Preclinical models of anti-inflammatory and neuropathic pain indicate that gabapentin effectively antagonizes the maintenance of this pain. Additionally, in preemptive surgical models, gabapentin has been shown to prevent the induction of pain. Gabapentin has been shown to be efficacious in numerous smaller clinical studies, case reports, and chart reviews in a variety of neuropathic pain syndromes. Two large multicenter studies, one in postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) and one in diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN), support preclinical findings. In the PHN study, patients treated with gabapentin demonstrated a significant difference (P<0.001) in their average daily pain score at endpoint compared to placebo patients. In the DPN trial, mean weekly pain was significantly (P<0.001) different for gabapentin-treated patients compared to placebo-treated patients at endpoint. Consistent with the known side-effect profile of gabapentin, the most common adverse events noted in both studies were dizziness and somnolence. Gabapentin should be considered an important addition to the management of neuropathic pain syndromes.
 ...
PMID:Gabapentin use in neuropathic pain syndromes. 1087 51


<< Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next >>