Peripheral gene expression profile of mechanical hyperalgesia induced by repeated cold stress in SHRSP5/Dmcr rats

• Published in: The journal of physiological sciences 2015-09, Vol.65 (5), p.417-425
• Main Authors: Kozaki, Yasuko, Umetsu, Rena, Mizukami, Yukako, Yamamura, Aya, Kitamori, Kazuya, Tsuchikura, Satoru, Ikeda, Katsumi, Yamori, Yukio
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Blood Pressure - genetics; Cold Temperature; Gene Expression Profiling - methods; Gene Expression Regulation; Hyperalgesia - etiology; Hyperalgesia - genetics; Hyperalgesia - physiopathology; Male; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; Original Paper; Pain Threshold; Rats, Inbred SHR; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Rats, Wistar; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; Stress, Physiological; Time Factors
• ISSN: 1880-6546; 1880-6562
• DOI: 10.1007/s12576-015-0380-9

Repeated cold stress (RCS) is known to transiently induce functional disorders associated with hypotension and hyperalgesia. In this study, we investigated the effects of RCS (24 and 4 °C alternately at 30-min intervals during the day and 4 °C at night for 2 days, followed by 4 °C on the next 2 consecutive nights) on the thresholds for cutaneous mechanical pain responses and on peripheral expression of "pain-related genes" in SHRSP5/Dmcr rats, which are derived from stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats. To define genes peripherally regulated by RCS, we detected changes in the expression of pain-related genes in dorsal root ganglion cells by PCR-based cDNA subtraction analysis or DNA microarray analysis, and confirmed the changes by RT-PCR. We found significantly changed expression in eight pain-related genes (upregulated: Fyn, St8sia1, and Tac 1; downregulated: Ctsb, Fstl1, Itpr1, Npy, S100a10). At least some of these genes may play key roles in hyperalgesia induced by RCS.