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Galanin knockout mice reveal nociceptive deficits following peripheral nerve injury
Author(s) -
Kerr Bradley J.,
Cafferty William B. J.,
Gupta YurI. K.,
Bacon Andrea,
Wynick David,
McMahon Stephen B.,
Thompson Stephen W. N.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
european journal of neuroscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.346
H-Index - 206
eISSN - 1460-9568
pISSN - 0953-816X
DOI - 10.1046/j.1460-9568.2000.00967.x
Subject(s) - galanin , neuroscience , nociception , knockout mouse , peripheral nerve injury , nerve injury , peripheral nerve , peripheral , medicine , psychology , neuropeptide , anatomy , receptor
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 PKCγ 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.