Activation of mesocorticolimbic reward circuits for assessment of relief of ongoing pain: a potential biomarker of efficacy.

ABSTRACT: Preclinical assessment of pain has increasingly explored operant methods that may allow behavioral assessment of ongoing pain. In animals with incisional injury, peripheral nerve block produces conditioned place preference (CPP) and activates the mesolimbic dopaminergic reward pathway. We hypothesized that activation of this circuit could serve as a neurochemical output measure of relief of ongoing pain. Medications commonly used clinically, including gabapentin and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), were evaluated in models of post-surgical (1 day after incision) or neuropathic (14 days after spinal nerve ligation [SNL]) pain to determine whether the clinical efficacy profile of these drugs in these pain conditions was reflected by extracellular dopamine (DA) release in the nu

SUBMITTER: Xie JY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4118589 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature