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1.
Appetite ; 164: 105277, 2021 09 01.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-33984401

ABSTRACT

Reducing meat consumption may improve human health, curb environmental damage, and limit the large-scale suffering of animals raised in factory farms. Most attention to reducing consumption has focused on restructuring environments where foods are chosen or on making health or environmental appeals. However, psychological theory suggests that interventions appealing to animal welfare concerns might operate on distinct, potent pathways. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis evaluating the effectiveness of these interventions. We searched eight academic databases and extensively searched grey literature. We meta-analyzed 100 studies assessing interventions designed to reduce meat consumption or purchase by mentioning or portraying farm animals, that measured behavioral or self-reported outcomes related to meat consumption, purchase, or related intentions, and that had a control condition. The interventions consistently reduced meat consumption, purchase, or related intentions at least in the short term with meaningfully large effects (meta-analytic mean risk ratio [RR] = 1.22; 95% CI: [1.13, 1.33]). We estimated that a large majority of population effect sizes (71%; 95% CI: [59%, 80%]) were stronger than RR = 1.1 and that few were in the unintended direction. Via meta-regression, we identified some specific characteristics of studies and interventions that were associated with effect size. Risk-of-bias assessments identified both methodological strengths and limitations of this literature; however, results did not differ meaningfully in sensitivity analyses retaining only studies at the lowest risk of bias. Evidence of publication bias was not apparent. In conclusion, animal welfare interventions preliminarily appear effective in these typically short-term studies of primarily self-reported outcomes. Future research should use direct behavioral outcomes that minimize the potential for social desirability bias and are measured over long-term follow-up.


Subject(s)
Consumer Behavior , Meat , Animal Welfare , Animals , Humans , Psychological Theory
2.
Syst Rev ; 9(1): 3, 2020 01 06.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-31907028

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Reducing meat consumption may improve human health, curb environmental damage and greenhouse gas emissions, and limit the large-scale suffering of animals raised in factory farms. Previous work has begun to develop interventions to reduce individual meat consumption, often by appealing directly to individual health motivations. However, research on nutritional behavior change suggests that interventions additionally linking behavior to ethical values, identity formation, and existing social movements may be particularly effective and longer-lasting. Regarding meat consumption, preliminary evidence and psychological theory suggest that appeals related to animal welfare may have considerable potential to effectively leverage these elements of human psychology. We aim to conduct a systematic review and quantitative meta-analysis evaluating the effectiveness of animal welfare-related appeals on actual or intended meat consumption or purchasing. Our investigation will critically synthesize the current state of knowledge regarding psychological mechanisms of intervening on individual meat consumption and empirically identify the psychological characteristics underlying the most effective animal welfare-based interventions. METHODS: We will systematically search eight academic databases and extensively search unpublished grey literature. We will include studies that assess interventions intended to reduce meat consumption or purchase through the mention or portrayal of animal welfare, that measure outcomes related to meat consumption or purchase, and that have a control condition. Eligible studies may recruit from any human population, be written in any language, and be published or released any time. We will meta-analyze the studies, reporting the pooled point estimate and additional metrics that describe the distribution of potentially heterogeneous effects. We will assess studies' risk of bias and conduct sensitivity analyses for publication bias. We describe possible follow-up analyses to investigate hypothesized moderators of intervention effectiveness. DISCUSSION: The findings of the proposed systematic review and meta-analysis, including any identified methodological limitations of the existing literature, could inform the design of successful evidence-based interventions with broad potential to improve human, animal, and environmental well-being. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: The protocol was preregistered via the Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/d3y56/registrations).


Subject(s)
Animal Welfare , Consumer Behavior , Meat , Psychological Theory , Animals , Humans , Animal Welfare/ethics , Food Supply , Meat/adverse effects , Meta-Analysis as Topic , Systematic Reviews as Topic
3.
Behav Res Methods ; 51(5): 1987-1997, 2019 10.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-31197629

ABSTRACT

Mouse-tracking is a sophisticated tool for measuring rapid, dynamic cognitive processes in real time, particularly in experiments investigating competition between perceptual or cognitive categories. We provide user-friendly, open-source software ( https://osf.io/st2ef/ ) for designing and analyzing such experiments online using the Qualtrics survey platform. The software consists of a Qualtrics template with embedded JavaScript and CSS along with R code to clean, parse, and analyze the data. No special programming skills are required to use this software. As we discuss, this software could be readily modified for use with other online survey platforms that allow the addition of custom JavaScript. We empirically validate the provided software by benchmarking its performance on previously tested stimuli (android robot faces) in a category-competition experiment with realistic crowdsourced data collection.


Subject(s)
Software , Adult , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged
4.
Cognition ; 146: 22-32, 2016 Jan.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-26402646

ABSTRACT

Android robots are entering human social life. However, human-robot interactions may be complicated by a hypothetical Uncanny Valley (UV) in which imperfect human-likeness provokes dislike. Previous investigations using unnaturally blended images reported inconsistent UV effects. We demonstrate an UV in subjects' explicit ratings of likability for a large, objectively chosen sample of 80 real-world robot faces and a complementary controlled set of edited faces. An "investment game" showed that the UV penetrated even more deeply to influence subjects' implicit decisions concerning robots' social trustworthiness, and that these fundamental social decisions depend on subtle cues of facial expression that are also used to judge humans. Preliminary evidence suggests category confusion may occur in the UV but does not mediate the likability effect. These findings suggest that while classic elements of human social psychology govern human-robot social interaction, robust UV effects pose a formidable android-specific problem.


Subject(s)
Facial Expression , Facial Recognition/physiology , Robotics , Social Perception , Trust/psychology , Adult , Female , Game Theory , Humans , Male
5.
J Neurosci ; 35(2): 495-507, 2015 Jan 14.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-25589745

ABSTRACT

Acute insults produce hyperalgesic priming, a neuroplastic change in nociceptors that markedly prolongs inflammatory mediator-induced hyperalgesia. After an acute initiating insult, there is a 72 h delay to the onset of priming, for which the underlying mechanism is unknown. We hypothesized that the delay is due to the time required for a signal to travel from the peripheral terminal to the cell body followed by a return signal to the peripheral terminal. We report that when an inducer of hyperalgesic priming (monocyte chemotactic protein 1) is administered at the spinal cord of Sprague Dawley rats, priming is detected at the peripheral terminal with a delay significantly shorter than when applied peripherally. Spinally induced priming is detected not only when prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) is presented to the peripheral nociceptor terminals, but also when it is presented intrathecally to the central terminals in the spinal cord. Furthermore, when an inducer of priming is administered in the paw, priming can be detected in spinal cord (as prolonged hyperalgesia induced by intrathecal PGE2), but only when the mechanical stimulus is presented to the paw on the side where the priming inducer was administered. Both spinally and peripherally induced priming is prevented by intrathecal oligodeoxynucleotide antisense to the nuclear transcription factor CREB mRNA. Finally, the inhibitor of protein translation reversed hyperalgesic priming only when injected at the site where PGE2 was administered, suggesting that the signal transmitted from the cell body to the peripheral terminal is not a newly translated protein, but possibly a newly expressed mRNA.


Subject(s)
Acute Pain/physiopathology , Axons/physiology , Chronic Pain/physiopathology , Nociceptors/physiology , Reaction Time , Acute Pain/metabolism , Animals , Axons/metabolism , Chemokine CCL2/pharmacology , Chronic Pain/metabolism , Cyclic AMP Response Element-Binding Protein/genetics , Cyclic AMP Response Element-Binding Protein/metabolism , Dinoprostone/pharmacology , Hyperalgesia/metabolism , Hyperalgesia/physiopathology , Male , Nociceptors/drug effects , Nociceptors/metabolism , Rats , Rats, Sprague-Dawley , Spinal Cord/drug effects , Spinal Cord/metabolism , Spinal Cord/physiopathology
6.
Pain ; 154 Suppl 1: S2-9, 2013 Dec.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-23711480

ABSTRACT

The molecular/genetic era has seen the discovery of a staggering number of molecules implicated in pain mechanisms [18,35,61,69,96,133,150,202,224]. This has stimulated pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to invest billions of dollars to develop drugs that enhance or inhibit the function of many these molecules. Unfortunately this effort has provided a remarkably small return on this investment. Inevitably, transformative progress in this field will require a better understanding of the functional links among the ever-growing ranks of "pain molecules," as well as their links with an even larger number of molecules with which they interact. Importantly, all of these molecules exist side-by-side, within a functional unit, the cell, and its adjacent matrix of extracellular molecules. To paraphrase a recent editorial in Science magazine [223], although we live in the Golden age of Genetics, the fundamental unit of biology is still arguably the cell, and the cell is the critical structural and functional setting in which the function of pain-related molecules must be understood. This review summarizes our current understanding of the nociceptor as a cell-biological unit that responds to a variety of extracellular inputs with a complex and highly organized interaction of signaling molecules. We also discuss the insights that this approach is providing into peripheral mechanisms of chronic pain and sex dependence in pain.


Subject(s)
Models, Neurological , Neuronal Plasticity/physiology , Nociception/physiology , Nociceptors/physiology , Pain/physiopathology , Animals , Humans , Nociceptors/cytology , Pain/pathology
7.
J Neurosci ; 31(31): 11404-10, 2011 Aug 03.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-21813700

ABSTRACT

While oxidative stress has been implicated in small-fiber painful peripheral neuropathies, antioxidants are only partially effective to treat patients. We have tested the hypothesis that Drp1 (dynamin-related protein 1), a GTPase that catalyzes the process of mitochondrial fission, which is a mechanism central for the effect and production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), plays a central role in these neuropathic pain syndromes. Intrathecal administration of oligodeoxynucleotide antisense against Drp1 produced a decrease in its expression in peripheral nerve and markedly attenuated neuropathic mechanical hyperalgesia caused by HIV/AIDS antiretroviral [ddC (2',3'-dideoxycytidine)] and anticancer (oxaliplatin) chemotherapy in male Sprague Dawley rats. To confirm the role of Drp1 in these models of neuropathic pain, as well as to demonstrate its contribution at the site of sensory transduction, we injected a highly selective Drp1 inhibitor, mdivi-1, at the site of nociceptive testing on the dorsum of the rat's hindpaw. mdivi-1 attenuated both forms of neuropathic pain. To evaluate the role of Drp1 in hyperalgesia induced by ROS, we demonstrated that intradermal hydrogen peroxide produced dose-dependent hyperalgesia that was inhibited by mdivi-1. Finally, mechanical hyperalgesia induced by diverse pronociceptive mediators involved in inflammatory and neuropathic pain-tumor necrosis factor α, glial-derived neurotrophic factor, and nitric oxide-was also inhibited by mdivi-1. These studies provide support for a substantial role of mitochondrial fission in preclinical models of inflammatory and neuropathic pain.


Subject(s)
Dynamins/metabolism , Neuralgia/metabolism , Analysis of Variance , Animals , Anti-HIV Agents/toxicity , Antineoplastic Agents/toxicity , Disease Models, Animal , Dose-Response Relationship, Drug , Dynamins/genetics , Epinephrine/therapeutic use , Gene Expression Regulation/drug effects , Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor/therapeutic use , Hydrogen Peroxide , Hyperalgesia/chemically induced , Hyperalgesia/drug therapy , Hyperalgesia/metabolism , Male , Nerve Growth Factor/therapeutic use , Neuralgia/chemically induced , Neuralgia/drug therapy , Nitric Oxide Donors/toxicity , Nitro Compounds/toxicity , Oligodeoxyribonucleotides, Antisense/therapeutic use , Organoplatinum Compounds/toxicity , Oxaliplatin , Pain Measurement/methods , Quinazolinones/therapeutic use , RNA, Messenger , Rats , Rats, Sprague-Dawley , Reactive Oxygen Species/metabolism , Time Factors , Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/therapeutic use , Zalcitabine/toxicity
8.
Ann Neurol ; 69(1): 13-21, 2011 Jan.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-21280072

ABSTRACT

Chronic peripheral neuropathic pain is the result of abnormal activity in sensory nerves. It is well recognized that this sensory nerve dysfunction can be caused by traumatic, toxic, or metabolic insult to the nerve. In addition, there is growing recognition that neuropathic pain is a frequent manifestation of neurodegenerative diseases. In this regard, important clues to the cellular mechanisms of neuropathic pain may be found by close examination of neurodegenerative diseases (including Parkinson's disease) in which neuropathic pain is often an underappreciated but important clinical manifestation. This approach identifies specific mitochondrial and cytoskeletal mechanisms, previously implicated in the pathophysiology of neurodegenerative diseases in the central nervous system, that might contribute to neuropathic dysfunction in peripheral sensory nerve fibers. Investigations in preclinical models of common peripheral neuropathic pain conditions have supported the idea that a subset of these cellular mechanisms of neurodegeneration can produce painful hyperactivity in primary afferent nociceptors. Importantly, this emerging concept of neurodegenerative disease mechanisms in the primary afferent nociceptor identifies novel molecular targets for the treatment neuropathic pain.


Subject(s)
Cell Death/physiology , Neuralgia/physiopathology , Neurodegenerative Diseases/physiopathology , Nociceptors/physiology , Alzheimer Disease/physiopathology , Energy Metabolism/physiology , Humans , Mitochondrial Diseases/physiopathology , Models, Neurological , Nerve Fibers, Myelinated/physiology , Oxidative Stress/physiology , Peripheral Nervous System/physiopathology , Polyneuropathies/physiopathology , Reactive Oxygen Species/metabolism
9.
J Neurosci ; 30(13): 4660-6, 2010 Mar 31.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-20357116

ABSTRACT

Clinical pain conditions may remain responsive to opiate analgesics for extended periods, but such persistent acute pain can undergo a transition to an opiate-resistant chronic pain state that becomes a much more serious clinical problem. To test the hypothesis that cellular mechanisms of chronic pain in the primary afferent also contribute to the development of opiate resistance, we used a recently developed model of the transition of from acute to chronic pain, hyperalgesic priming. Repeated intradermal administration of the potent and highly selective mu-opioid agonist, [d-Ala(2),N-MePhe(4),gly-ol]-enkephalin (DAMGO), to produce tolerance for its inhibition of prostaglandin E(2) hyperalgesia, simultaneously produced hyperalgesic priming. Conversely, injection of an inflammogen, carrageenan, used to produce priming produced DAMGO tolerance. Both effects were prevented by inhibition of protein kinase Cepsilon (PKCepsilon). Carrageenan also induced opioid dependence, manifest as mu-opioid receptor antagonist (d-Phe-Cys-Tyr-d-Trp-Orn-Thr-Pen-Thr-NH(2))-induced hyperalgesia that, like priming, was PKCepsilon and G(i) dependent. These findings suggest that the transition from acute to chronic pain, and development of mu-opioid receptor tolerance and dependence may be linked by common cellular mechanisms in the primary afferent.


Subject(s)
Drug Tolerance , Opioid-Related Disorders/physiopathology , Pain/physiopathology , Acute Disease , Analgesics, Opioid/pharmacology , Animals , Carrageenan/pharmacology , Chronic Disease , Enkephalin, Ala(2)-MePhe(4)-Gly(5)-/pharmacology , GTP-Binding Protein alpha Subunits, Gi-Go/physiology , GTP-Binding Protein alpha Subunits, Gs/physiology , Hyperalgesia/etiology , Hyperalgesia/immunology , Hyperalgesia/physiopathology , Inflammation/complications , Male , Nociceptors/metabolism , Opioid-Related Disorders/immunology , Pain/etiology , Pain/immunology , Protein Kinase C-epsilon/antagonists & inhibitors , Protein Kinase C-epsilon/physiology , Rats , Rats, Sprague-Dawley , Receptors, Opioid, mu/agonists , Receptors, Opioid, mu/antagonists & inhibitors , Signal Transduction , Substance Withdrawal Syndrome/physiopathology
10.
J Pediatr Health Care ; 24(1): 14-24, 2010.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-20122474

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: State and national policymakers are actively debating the merits of legally mandating the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional pilot study designed to identify factors associated with HPV vaccination in 170 high school girls and the decision making by girls about vaccination. RESULTS: Overall, 48.4% participated in the vaccination decision making and 37.8% were vaccinated, but there were significant vaccine-related knowledge gaps. Girls often lacked basic knowledge necessary to make vaccine decisions. Vaccination was significantly associated with older age, vaccine information sources, and higher vaccine-related knowledge, but not with estimates of risk of HPV-related diseases, religion, or frequency of health care visits. CONCLUSIONS: This paper describes the first study to have identified factors associated with HPV vaccination among California high school girls and to have documented that a high percentage are participating in the vaccination decision making. These findings have implications for adolescent health education and nursing practice and provide new information relevant to the current public policy debates about mandatory vaccination.


Subject(s)
Decision Making , Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice , Papillomavirus Vaccines , Patient Acceptance of Health Care/psychology , Students/psychology , Vaccination/psychology , Adolescent , Analysis of Variance , Cross-Sectional Studies , Dissent and Disputes , Educational Measurement , Female , Humans , Mandatory Programs , Nursing Methodology Research , Patient Acceptance of Health Care/statistics & numerical data , Patient Education as Topic , Patient Participation/psychology , Patient Participation/statistics & numerical data , Pilot Projects , Psychology, Adolescent , San Francisco , Socioeconomic Factors , Students/statistics & numerical data , Vaccination/statistics & numerical data
11.
Trends Neurosci ; 32(12): 611-8, 2009 Dec.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-19781793

ABSTRACT

The transition from acute to chronic pain states might be the most important challenge in research to improve clinical treatment of debilitating pain. We describe a recently identified mechanism of neuronal plasticity in primary afferent nociceptive nerve fibers (nociceptors) by which an acute inflammatory insult or environmental stressor can trigger long-lasting hypersensitivity of nociceptors to inflammatory cytokines. This phenomenon, "hyperalgesic priming," depends on the epsilon isoform of protein kinase C (PKCepsilon) and a switch in intracellular signaling pathways that mediate cytokine-induced nociceptor hyperexcitability. We discuss the impact of this discovery on our understanding of, and ultimately our ability to treat, a variety of enigmatic and debilitating pain conditions, including those associated with repetitive injury, and generalized pain conditions, such as fibromyalgia.


Subject(s)
Neuronal Plasticity/physiology , Nociceptors/physiology , Pain/physiopathology , Animals , Chronic Disease , Humans , Hyperalgesia/metabolism , Hyperalgesia/physiopathology , Isoenzymes/metabolism , Models, Biological , Nociceptors/metabolism , Protein Kinase C-epsilon/metabolism , Stress, Physiological/physiology , Wounds and Injuries/physiopathology
12.
Eur J Neurosci ; 28(6): 1180-90, 2008 Sep.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-18783367

ABSTRACT

The neurotoxic effects of catecholamine metabolites have been implicated in neurodegenerative diseases. As some sensory neurons express tyrosine hydroxylase and monoamine oxidase (MAO), we investigated the potential contribution of catecholamine metabolites to neuropathic pain in a model of alcoholic neuropathy. The presence of catecholamines in sensory neurons is supported by capsaicin-stimulated epinephrine release, an effect enhanced in ethanol-fed rats. mRNA for enzymes in dorsal root ganglia involved in catecholamine uptake and metabolism, dopamine beta-hydroxylase and MAO-A, were decreased by neonatal administration of capsaicin. Ethanol-induced hyperalgesia was attenuated by systemic and local peripheral administration of inhibitors of MAO-A, reduction of norepinephrine transporter (NET) in sensory neurons and a NET inhibitor. Finally, intradermal injection of 3,4-dihydroxyphenylglycolaldehyde (DOPEGAL), a neurotoxic MAO-A catecholamine metabolite, produced robust mechanical hyperalgesia. These observations suggest that catecholamines in nociceptors are metabolized to neurotoxic products by MAO-A, which can cause neuronal dysfunction underlying neuropathic pain.


Subject(s)
Alcoholic Neuropathy/metabolism , Catecholamines/metabolism , Ethanol/administration & dosage , Hyperalgesia/metabolism , Neurotoxins/metabolism , Nociceptors/metabolism , Alcoholic Neuropathy/physiopathology , Animals , Behavior, Animal/physiology , Capsaicin/pharmacology , Clorgyline/pharmacology , Desipramine/pharmacology , Enzyme Inhibitors/pharmacology , Ethanol/metabolism , Ganglia, Spinal/metabolism , Hyperalgesia/physiopathology , Monoamine Oxidase/genetics , Monoamine Oxidase/metabolism , Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors/pharmacology , Nociceptors/drug effects , Nociceptors/physiopathology , Norepinephrine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins/antagonists & inhibitors , Norepinephrine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins/genetics , Norepinephrine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins/metabolism , Oligonucleotides, Antisense/genetics , Oligonucleotides, Antisense/metabolism , Pargyline/pharmacology , Rats , Rats, Sprague-Dawley , Sensory System Agents/pharmacology
13.
J Neurosci ; 28(22): 5721-30, 2008 May 28.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-18509033

ABSTRACT

Stress dramatically exacerbates pain in diseases such as fibromyalgia and rheumatoid arthritis, but the underlying mechanisms are unknown. We tested the hypothesis that stress causes generalized hyperalgesia by enhancing pronociceptive effects of immune mediators. Rats exposed to nonhabituating sound stress exhibited no change in mechanical nociceptive threshold, but showed a marked increase in hyperalgesia evoked by local injections of prostaglandin E(2) or epinephrine. This enhancement, which developed more than a week after exposure to stress, required concerted action of glucocorticoids and catecholamines at receptors located in the periphery on sensory afferents. The altered response to pronociceptive mediators involved a switch in coupling of their receptors from predominantly stimulatory to inhibitory G-proteins (G(s) to G(i)), and for prostaglandin E(2), emergence of novel dependence on protein kinase C epsilon. Thus, an important mechanism in generalized pain syndromes may be stress-induced coactivation of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal and sympathoadrenal axes, causing a long-lasting alteration in intracellular signaling pathways, enabling normally innocuous levels of immune mediators to produce chronic hyperalgesia.


Subject(s)
Neurons, Afferent/physiology , Pain/pathology , Signal Transduction/physiology , Stress, Physiological/physiopathology , Adrenalectomy/methods , Analysis of Variance , Animals , Behavior, Animal/drug effects , Behavior, Animal/physiology , Corticosterone/pharmacology , Dinoprostone , Disease Models, Animal , Epinephrine/adverse effects , Epinephrine/blood , Hormone Antagonists/pharmacology , Hyperalgesia/chemically induced , Hyperalgesia/physiopathology , Male , Mifepristone/pharmacology , Muscle, Skeletal/innervation , Pain Threshold/drug effects , Pain Threshold/physiology , Rats , Rats, Sprague-Dawley , Skin/innervation , Sound/adverse effects , Stress, Physiological/etiology , Time Factors
14.
J Neurosci ; 28(5): 1046-57, 2008 Jan 30.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-18234883

ABSTRACT

Although the transient receptor potential vanilloid 4 (TRPV4) has been implicated in the process of osmomechanical transduction, it appears to make little contribution to the normal somatosensory detection of mechanical stimuli. However, evidence suggests that it may play an important role in mechanical hyperalgesia. In the present study, we examined the common requirement for TRPV4 in mechanical hyperalgesia associated with diverse pain models and investigated whether the very close association observed between TRPV4 and mechanical hyperalgesia, regardless of etiology, reflects a close functional connection of TRPV4 with other molecules implicated in mechanical transduction. In models of painful peripheral neuropathy associated with vincristine chemotherapy, alcoholism, diabetes, and human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome therapy, mechanical hyperalgesia was markedly reduced by spinal intrathecal administration of oligodeoxynucleotides antisense to TRPV4. Similarly, mechanical hyperalgesia induced by paclitaxel, vincristine, or diabetes was strongly reduced in TRPV4 knock-out mice. We also show that alpha2beta1 integrin and Src tyrosine kinase, which have been implicated in mechanical transduction, are important for the development of mechanical hyperalgesia, and that their contribution requires TRPV4. Furthermore, we establish a direct interaction between TRPV4, alpha2 integrin, and the Src tyrosine kinase Lyn in sensory neurons. We suggest that TRPV4 plays a role in mechanotransduction, as a component of a molecular complex that functions only in the setting of inflammation or nerve injury.


Subject(s)
Hyperalgesia/metabolism , Integrins/metabolism , TRPV Cation Channels/metabolism , src-Family Kinases/metabolism , Animals , Cells, Cultured , Hyperalgesia/genetics , Inflammation Mediators/metabolism , Integrin alpha2/genetics , Integrin alpha2/metabolism , Integrin alpha2beta1/genetics , Integrin alpha2beta1/metabolism , Integrins/genetics , Male , Mice , Mice, Inbred C57BL , Mice, Knockout , Nociceptors/metabolism , Pain Measurement/methods , Physical Stimulation/methods , Rats , Rats, Sprague-Dawley , TRPV Cation Channels/genetics , src-Family Kinases/genetics
15.
J Neurosci ; 26(14): 3864-74, 2006 Apr 05.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-16597741

ABSTRACT

The transient receptor potential vanilloid 4 (TRPV4) is a primary afferent transducer that plays a crucial role in neuropathic hyperalgesia for osmotic and mechanical stimuli, as well as in inflammatory mediator-induced hyperalgesia for osmotic stimuli. In view of the clinical importance of mechanical hyperalgesia in inflammatory states, the present study investigated the role of TRPV4 in mechanical hyperalgesia induced by inflammatory mediators and the second-messenger pathways involved. Intradermal injection of either the inflammogen carrageenan or a soup of inflammatory mediators enhanced the nocifensive paw-withdrawal reflex elicited by hypotonic or mechanical stimuli in rat. Spinal administration of TRPV4 antisense oligodeoxynucleotide blocked the enhancement without altering baseline nociceptive threshold. Similarly, in TRPV4(-/-) knock-out mice, inflammatory soup failed to induce any significant mechanical or osmotic hyperalgesia. In vitro investigation showed that inflammatory mediators engage the TRPV4-mediated mechanism of sensitization by direct action on dissociated primary afferent neurons. Additional behavioral observations suggested that multiple mediators are necessary to achieve sufficient activation of the cAMP pathway to engage the TRPV4-dependent mechanism of hyperalgesia. In addition, direct activation of protein kinase A or protein kinase C epsilon, two pathways that mediate inflammation-induced mechanical hyperalgesia, also induced hyperalgesia for both hypotonic and mechanical stimuli that was decreased by TRPV4 antisense and absent in TRPV4(-/-) mice. We conclude that TRPV4 plays a crucial role in the mechanical hyperalgesia that is generated by the concerted action of inflammatory mediators present in inflamed tissues.


Subject(s)
Ganglia, Spinal/immunology , Hyperalgesia/immunology , Inflammation Mediators/immunology , Mechanotransduction, Cellular/immunology , TRPV Cation Channels/immunology , Touch/immunology , Animals , Cells, Cultured , Male , Rats , Rats, Sprague-Dawley
16.
J Rheumatol Suppl ; 75: 29-37, 2005 Aug.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-16078358

ABSTRACT

Fibromyalgia syndrome (FM) is a common, often debilitating and intractable, chronic, generalized pain condition. The development of effective therapies to treat FM has been hindered by a lack of understanding of fundamental mechanisms in the etiology of FM. In view of prominent characteristics that FM shares with other generalized pain conditions, we suggest that a key mechanism in such disorders may be that of altered activity in the subdiaphragmatic vagus nerve. Specifically, we propose that activity in vagal afferents, arising from the gastrointestinal tract, and sympathoadrenal function mediate a contribution of stress to FM and its strong association with irritable bowel syndrome. An important prediction of the proposed mechanism is that interventions that selectively modulate activity in specific populations of subdiaphragmatic afferents might be used to treat the symptoms of FM and other generalized pain syndromes.


Subject(s)
Fibromyalgia/physiopathology , Vagus Nerve/physiopathology , Fibromyalgia/complications , Fibromyalgia/therapy , Humans , Stress, Physiological/complications
17.
Pain ; 115(1-2): 191-203, 2005 May.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-15836982

ABSTRACT

We recently reported that hyperalgesia induced by the inflammatory mediator prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)) requires intact alpha1, alpha3 and beta1 integrin subunit function, whereas epinephrine-induced hyperalgesia depends on alpha5 and beta1. PGE(2)-induced hyperalgesia is mediated by protein kinase A (PKA), while epinephrine-induced hyperalgesia is mediated by a combination of PKA, protein kinase Cepsilon (PKCepsilon) and mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (MAPK/ERK). We hypothesized that inflammatory mediator-induced hyperalgesia involves specific interactions between different subsets of integrin subunits and particular second messenger species. In the present study, function-blocking anti-integrin antibodies and antisense oligodeoxynucleotides were used to elucidate these interactions in rat. Hyperalgesia produced by an activator of adenylate cyclase (forskolin) depended on alpha1, alpha3 and beta1 integrins. However, hyperalgesia induced by activation of the cascade at a point farther downstream (by cAMP analog or PKA catalytic subunit) was independent of any integrins tested. In contrast, hyperalgesia induced by a specific PKCepsilon agonist depended only on alpha5 and beta1 integrins. Hyperalgesia induced by agonism of MAPK/ERK depended on all four integrin subunits tested (alpha1, alpha3, alpha5 and beta1). Finally, disruption of lipid rafts antagonized hyperalgesia induced by PGE(2) and by forskolin, but not that induced by epinephrine. Furthermore, alpha1 integrin, but not alpha5, was present in detergent-resistant membrane fractions (which retain lipid raft components). These observations suggest that integrins play a critical role in inflammatory pain by interacting with components of second messenger cascades that mediate inflammatory hyperalgesia, and that such interaction with the PGE(2)-activated pathway may be organized by lipid rafts.


Subject(s)
Ganglia, Spinal/metabolism , Hyperalgesia/metabolism , Inflammation/metabolism , Integrins/antagonists & inhibitors , Integrins/metabolism , Signal Transduction , Animals , Colforsin , Dinoprostone , Epinephrine , Ganglia, Spinal/drug effects , Hyperalgesia/chemically induced , Hyperalgesia/etiology , Inflammation/chemically induced , Inflammation/etiology , Male , Rats , Rats, Sprague-Dawley
18.
J Neurosci ; 24(18): 4444-52, 2004 May 05.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-15128858

ABSTRACT

The development of treatments for neuropathic pain has been hindered by our limited understanding of the basic mechanisms underlying abnormalities in nociceptor hyperexcitability. We recently showed that the polymodal receptor transient receptor potential vanilloid 4 (TRPV4), a member of the transient receptor potential (TRP) family of ion channels, may play a role in inflammatory pain (Alessandri-Haber et al., 2003). The present study tested whether TRVP4 also contributes to neuropathic pain, using a rat model of Taxol-induced painful peripheral neuropathy. Taxol is the most widely used drug for the treatment of a variety of tumor types, but the dose of Taxol that can be tolerated is limited by the development of a small-fiber painful peripheral neuropathy. We found that Taxol treatment enhanced the nociceptive behavioral responses to both mechanical and hypotonic stimulation of the hind paw. Spinal administration of antisense oligodeoxynucleotides to TRPV4, which reduced the expression of TRPV4 in sensory nerve, abolished Taxol-induced mechanical hyperalgesia and attenuated hypotonic hyperalgesia by 42%. The enhancement of osmotic nociception involves sensitization of osmotransduction in primary afferents because osmotransduction was enhanced in cultured sensory neurons isolated from Taxol-treated rats. Taxol-induced TRPV4-mediated hyperalgesia and the enhanced osmotransduction in cultured nociceptors were dependent on integrin/Src tyrosine kinase signaling. These results suggest that TRPV4 plays a crucial role in a painful peripheral neuropathy, making it a very promising target for the development of a novel class of analgesics.


Subject(s)
Cation Transport Proteins/metabolism , Ion Channels/metabolism , Neuralgia/physiopathology , Peripheral Nervous System Diseases/physiopathology , Animals , Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic , Behavior, Animal/drug effects , Calcium/metabolism , Cation Transport Proteins/antagonists & inhibitors , Cation Transport Proteins/genetics , Cells, Cultured , Disease Models, Animal , Hyperalgesia/chemically induced , Hyperalgesia/drug therapy , Hyperalgesia/physiopathology , Hypotonic Solutions , Integrins/metabolism , Ion Channels/antagonists & inhibitors , Ion Channels/genetics , Male , Neuralgia/chemically induced , Neuralgia/drug therapy , Nociceptors/cytology , Nociceptors/drug effects , Nociceptors/metabolism , Oligonucleotides, Antisense/pharmacology , Paclitaxel , Pain Measurement , Peripheral Nervous System Diseases/chemically induced , Peripheral Nervous System Diseases/drug therapy , Rats , Rats, Sprague-Dawley , Signal Transduction/genetics , Signal Transduction/physiology , TRPV Cation Channels , src-Family Kinases/metabolism
19.
Neuron ; 39(3): 497-511, 2003 Jul 31.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-12895423

ABSTRACT

We hypothesized that TRPV4, a member of the transient receptor family of ion channels, functions as a sensory transducer for osmotic stimulus-induced nociception. We found that, as expected for a transducer molecule, TRPV4 protein is transported in sensory nerve distally toward the peripheral nerve endings. In vivo single-fiber recordings in rat showed that hypotonic solution activated 54% of C-fibers, an effect enhanced by the hyperalgesic inflammatory mediator prostaglandin E2. This osmotransduction causes nociception, since administration of a small osmotic stimulus into skin sensitized by PGE2 produced pain-related behavior. Antisense-induced decrease in expression of TRPV4 confirmed that the channel is required for hypotonic stimulus-induced nociception. Thus, we conclude that TRPV4 can function as an osmo-transducer in primary afferent nociceptive nerve fibers. Because this action is enhanced by an inflammatory mediator, TRPV4 may be important in pathological states and may be an attractive pharmacological target for the development of novel analgesics.


Subject(s)
Cation Transport Proteins , Ion Channels/physiology , Neurons/drug effects , Neurons/metabolism , Pain Measurement , Afferent Pathways/drug effects , Afferent Pathways/metabolism , Animals , Base Sequence , Cricetinae , Extracellular Space/drug effects , Extracellular Space/physiology , Hypotonic Solutions , Ion Channels/antagonists & inhibitors , Male , Molecular Sequence Data , Osmolar Concentration , Pain Measurement/drug effects , Pain Measurement/methods , Patch-Clamp Techniques , Rats , Rats, Sprague-Dawley , TRPV Cation Channels
20.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A ; 99(15): 10150-5, 2002 Jul 23.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-12097645

ABSTRACT

The capsaicin-sensitive vanilloid receptor (VR1) was recently shown to play an important role in inflammatory pain (hyperalgesia), but the underlying mechanism is unknown. We hypothesized that pain-producing inflammatory mediators activate capsaicin receptors by inducing the production of fatty acid agonists of VR1. This study demonstrates that bradykinin, acting at B2 bradykinin receptors, excites sensory nerve endings by activating capsaicin receptors via production of 12-lipoxygenase metabolites of arachidonic acid. This finding identifies a mechanism that might be targeted in the development of new therapeutic strategies for the treatment of inflammatory pain.


Subject(s)
Arachidonate 12-Lipoxygenase/metabolism , Bradykinin/pharmacology , Ganglia, Spinal/physiology , Hyperalgesia/physiopathology , Neurons, Afferent/physiology , Neurons/physiology , Pain/physiopathology , Receptors, Bradykinin/physiology , Receptors, Drug/physiology , Signal Transduction/physiology , Animals , Animals, Newborn , Cell Line , Cells, Cultured , Diterpenes/pharmacokinetics , Ganglia, Spinal/physiopathology , Humans , Inflammation/physiopathology , Leukotrienes/metabolism , Neurons/drug effects , Neurons, Afferent/drug effects , Neurotoxins/pharmacokinetics , Rats , Receptors, Drug/drug effects , Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction , Signal Transduction/drug effects , Transfection
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