J Korean Neurosurg Soc.  2015 Jan;57(1):6-11. 10.3340/jkns.2015.57.1.6.

The Neuromodulation of Neuropathic Pain by Measuring Pain Response Rate and Pain Response Duration in Animal

• Kim J
• Lee SE
• Shin J
• Jung HH
• Kim SJ
• Chang JW

• KMID: 2067084
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3340/jkns.2015.57.1.6

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
Neuropathic pain causes patients feel indescribable pain. Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) is one of the treatment methods in neuropathic pain but the action mechanism is still unclear. To study the effect and mechanism of analgesic effects from DBS in neuropathic pain and to enhance the analgesic effect of DBS, we stimulated the ventral posterolateral nucleus (VPL) in rats.
METHODS
To observe the effect from VPL stimulation, we established 3 groups : normal group (Normal group), neuropathic pain group (Pain group) and neuropathic pain+DBS group (DBS group). Rats in DBS group subjected to electrical stimulation and the target is VPL.
RESULTS
We observed the behavioral changes by DBS in VPL (VPL-DBS) on neuropathic pain rats. In our study, the pain score which is by conventional test method was effectively decreased. In specific, the time of showing withdrawal response from painful stimulation which is not used measuring method in our animal model was also decreased by DBS.
CONCLUSION
The VPL is an effective target on pain modulation. Specifically we could demonstrate changes of pain response duration which is not used, and it was also significantly meaningful. We thought that this study would be helpful in understanding the relation between VPL-DBS and neuropathic pain.

Keyword

Neuropathic pain; Deep brain stimulation; Ventral poterolateral nucleus; Neuromodulation

MeSH Terms

Animals
Deep Brain Stimulation
Electric Stimulation
Humans
Models, Animal
Neuralgia*
Rats
Ventral Thalamic Nuclei

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of DBS stimulation procedure. DBS : Deep Brain Stimulation.

• 

  Fig. 2 Confirmation of location of electrode insertion. The position of electrode is verified by brain slice samples. Electrode insertion track glows on brain slice (a thick white line means electrode).

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  Fig. 3 The results from VPL-DBS for 15 days post operation. A : Pain response rate score. B : Duration of felt pain. During stimulation, pain response score and duration were reduced compared with those before stimulation, and it reversed after stimulation was aborted. ◊ : before stimulation, ▪ : during stimulation, ▵ : 1 hour after stimulation was aborted. VPL : ventral posterolateral nucleus, DBS : Deep Brain Stimulation.

• 

  Fig. 4 The results from VPL-DBS. A : Pain response rate. B : Duration of felt pain. In the neuropathic pain group, pain score and duration were increased compared with that of the normal group. In the DBS group, score and duration was decreased compared with that of the neuropathic pain group (**p<0.05, ***p<0.001, one-way ANOVA test using Tukey post hoc). Normal : normal group, Pain : neuropathic pain group, DBS : DBS group. VPL : ventral posterolateral nucleus, DBS : Deep Brain Stimulation, ANOVA : analysis of variance.

• 

  Fig. 5 Verification of DBS effect. A : Pain response rate. B : Duration of felt pain. "Pre" represents before stimulation, "ON" represents during stimulation and "OFF" represents 1 hour after stimulation was aborted. Pain was reduced by VPL-DBS, and it reversed to baseline levels when stimulation was aborted (***p<0.001, using paired t-test). VPL : ventral posterolateral nucleus, DBS : Deep Brain Stimulation.

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