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Spinal glial glutamate transporters downregulate in rats with taxol-induced hyperalgesia
Han-Rong Weng1, Natarajan Aravindan, Juan P Cata
1Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Division of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd #42, Houston, TX 77030, USA. hrweng@mdanderson.org
Abstract:
Changes in the expression of glial glutamate transporters (GLAST and GLT-1) were examined in the spinal cord of rats with chemotherapy (taxol)-induced mechanical hyperalgesia. Immunohistochemical studies show that the expression of both GLAST and GLT-1 in the L4-L5 spinal dorsal horn is decreased by 24% (P<0.001) and 23% (P<0.001), respectively, in rats with taxol-induced hyperalgesia as compared with those in control rats. These changes were further confirmed using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay that confirmed downregulation of GLAST by 36% (P<0.05) and GLT-1 by 18% (P<0.05) in the L4-L5 spinal cord of taxol-treated rats. These data indicate that downregulation of glutamate transporters may contribute to the development of hyperalgesia induced by taxol and suggest that glutamate transporters may be a new target for treatment of pain.
