ABSTRACT
Objective To explore the role of pregabalin on the expression of c-fos in spinal dorsal horn of the rat with neuropathic pain.Methods Thirty Wister rats (male) were divided into shamoperated group,model group and pregabalin group,with 10 cases in each group.The effect of the pregabalin on the heat pain threshold and expression of c-fos in spinal dorsal horn of the rat with neuropathic pain were observed.Results The heat pain threshold in model group at 3rd,4th,5th,6th,7th,10th and 14th day after operation was significantly lower than that in sham-operated group and pregabalin group at same time (P ＜ 0.05).The heat pain threshold in pregabalin group was lower than that in sham-operated group from 2nd day after operation,but there was no significant difference (P ＞0.05).At the 14th day after operation,the number of Fos-like-immunoreactivity (FLI) positive cells in sham-operated group,model group and pregabalin group was (16.4 ± 0.6),(66.7 ± 3.3) and (22.8 ± 1.5)cases,and the number of FLI positive cells in model group was significantly higher than that in shamoperated group and pregabalin group (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions Pregabalin has analgesic activity on rat with neuropathic pain.Pregabalin activates spinal cord glial cells raisedby the injured peripheral nerve and infection,and also reduces the noxious stimulation of afferent pain to spinal dorsal horn neurons.