Summary
In anaesthetized rats, the influence of an experimental inflammation and of acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) on the discharge properties of muscle receptors with slowly conducting afferent fibres was studied using a single-fibre recording technique. Following the induction of a myositis with carrageenan, the proportion of units having background activity and the frequency of the background discharge were significantly increased. The latter change was particularly prominent in high-threshold mechanosensitive (HTM) units. There was evidence for an inflammation-induced lowering of mechanical threshold in HTM units, but the change was not statistically significant. Administration of ASA intravenously led to a decrease in the frequency of background discharge in some units while others were unaffected, although they appeared to be sensitized by the inflammation. If one assumes that at least some of the HTM receptors fulfil nociceptive functions, the results suggest that the pain and tenderness of an inflamed muscle is largely due to a sensitization and hence increased activity of nociceptive muscle receptors. The sensitization is only partially abolished by ASA.
Similar content being viewed by others
Explore related subjects
Discover the latest articles and news from researchers in related subjects, suggested using machine learning.References
Berberich P, Hoheisel U, Mense S (1988) Effects of a carrageenaninduced myositis on the discharge properties of group III and IV muscle receptors in the cat. J Neurophysiol 59: 1395–1409
Bisgaard H, Kristensen JK (1985) Leukotriene-B4 produces hyperalgesia in humans. Prostaglandins 30: 791–797
Brodin P, Skoglund LA (1987) Effects of salicylates and paracetamol compared to lidocaine on nerve conduction in vitro. Neuropharmacology 26: 1441–1444
DeVere R, Bradley WG (1975) Polymyositis: its presentation, morbidity and mortality. Brain 98: 637–666
Diehl B, Hoheisel U, Mense S (1988) Histological and neurophysiological changes induced by carrageenan in skeletal muscle of cat and rat. Agents Actions 25: 210–213
DiRosa M, Giroud JP, Willoughby DA (1971) Studies of the mediators of the acute inflammatory response induced in rats in different sites by carrageenan and turpentine. J Pathol 104: 15–29
Ferreira SH, Moncada S, Vane JR (1973) Prostaglandins and the mechanism of analgesia produced by aspirin-like drugs. Br J Pharmacol 49: 86–97
Ferreira SH, Lorenzetti BB, De Campos DI (1990) Induction, blockade and restoration of a persistent hypersensitive state. Pain 42: 365–371
Gamse R, Posch M, Saria A, Jancsó G (1987) Several mediators appear to interact in neurogenic inflammation. Acta Physiol Hung 69: 343–354
Grigg P, Schaible H-G, Schmidt RF (1986) Mechanical sensitivity of group III and IV afferents from posterior articular nerve in normal and inflamed cat knee. J Neurophysiol 55: 635–643
Guilbaud G, Iggo A (1985) The effect of lysine acetylsalicylate on joint capsule mechanoreceptors in rats with polyarthritis. Exp Brain Res 61: 164–168
Guilbaud G, Benoist JM, Gautron M, Kayser V (1982) Aspirin clearly depresses responses of ventrobasal thalamus neurones to joint stimuli in arthritic rats. Pain 13: 153–163
Guilbaud G, Iggo A, Tegnér R (1985) Sensory receptors in ankle joint capsules of normal and arthritic rats. Exp Brain Res 58: 29–40
Häbler H-J, Jänig W, Koltzenburg M (1988) A novel type of unmyelinated chemosensitive nociceptor in the acutely inflamed urinary bladder. Agents Actions 25: 219–221
Heppelmann B, Schaible H-G, Schmidt RF (1984a) Prostaglandin modifies the mechanosensitivity of group III afferents from cat knee joint. Pain Suppl 2: 243
Heppelmann B, Heuss C, Schaible HG, Schmidt RF (1984b) ASA and indometacin reduce sensitivity to movements of fine articular afferent units of inflamed joints. Pflügers Arch 402: R37
Heppelmann B, Pfeffer A, Schaible H-G, Schmidt RF (1986) Effects of acetylsalicylic acid and indomethacin on single groups III and IV sensory units from acutely inflamed joints. Pain 26: 337–351
Hoheisel U, Mense S (1986) Modulation of background activity in rat group IV afferent units from inflamed muscle by mechanical stimuli and acetylsalicylic acid. Pflugers Arch 406: R21
Holsapple MP, Yim GKW (1984) Therapeutic reduction of ongoing carrageenan-induced inflammation by lipoxygenase, but not cyclooxygenase inhibitors. Inflammation 8: 223–230
Kayser V, Guilbaud G (1987) Local and remote modifications of nociceptive sensitivity during carrageenan-induced inflammation in the rat. Pain 28: 99–107
Kocher L, Anton F, Reeh PW, Handwerker HO (1987) The effect of carrageenan-induced inflammation on the sensitivity of unmyeinated skin nociceptors in the rat. Pain 29: 363–373
Martin HA, Basbaum AI, Kwiat GC, Goetzl EJ, Levine JD (1987) Leukotriene and prostaglandin sensitization of cutaneous highthreshold C and A delta mechanoreceptors in the hairy skin of rat hindlimbs. Neuroscience 22: 651–659
McCarthy PW, Lawson SN (1989) Cell type and conduction velocity of rat primary sensory neurons with substance P like immunoreactivity. Neuroscience 28: 745–753
McMillan RM, Foster SJ (1988) Leukotriene B4 and inflammatory disease. Agents Actions 24: 114–119
Mense S (1981) Sensitization of group IV muscle receptors to bradykinin by 5-hydroxytryptamine and prostaglandin E2. Brain Res 225: 95–105
Mense S (1982) Reduction of the bradykinin-induced activation of feline group III and IV muscle receptors by acetylsalicylic acid. J Physiol (Lond) 326: 269–283
Mense S, Hoheisel U (1990) Influence of leukotriene D4 on the discharges of slowly conducting afferent units from normal and inflamed muscle in the rat. Pflügers Arch 415 [Suppl 1]: R105
Mense S, Meyer H (1988) Bradykinin-induced modulation of the response behaviour of different types of feline group III and IV muscle receptors. J Physiol (Lond) 398: 49–63
Molander C, Ygge J, Dalsgaard C-J (1987) Substance P-, somatostatin and calcitonin gene-related peptide-like immunoreactivity and fluoride resistant acid phosphatase — activity in relation to retrogradely labeled cutaneous, muscular and visceral primary sensory neurons in the rat. Neurosci Lett 74: 37–42
Nakamura-Craig M, Smith TW (1989) Substance P and peripheral inflammatory hyperalgesia. Pain 38: 91–98
Perl ER, Kumazawa T, Lynn B, Kenins P (1976) Sensitization of high threshold receptors with unmyelinated (C) afferent fibers. Prog Brain Res 43: 263–276
Schaible H-G, Schmidt RF (1985) Effects of an experimental arthritis on the sensory properties of fine articular afferent units. J Neurophysiol 54: 1109–1122
Schaible H-G, Schmidt RF (1988) Time course of mechanosensitivity changes in articular afferents during a developing experimental arthritis. J Neurophysiol 60: 2180–2195
Stacey MJ (1969) Free nerve endings in skeletal muscle of the cat. J Anat 105: 231–254
Steen KH, Anton F, Reeh PW, Handwerker HO (1990) Sensitization and selective excitation by protons of nociceptive nerve endings in rat skin, in vitro. Pflügers Arch 415 [Suppl 1]: R106
Torebjörk HE, LaMotte RH, Robinson CJ (1984) Peripheral neural correlates of magnitude of cutaneous pain and hyperalgesia: simultaneous recordings in humans of sensory judgments of pain and evoked responses in nociceptors with C-fibers. J Neurophysiol 51: 325–339
Vane JR (1971) Inhibition of prostaglandin synthesis as a mechanism of action for aspirin-like drugs. Nature New Biol 231: 232–235
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Diehl, B., Hoheisel, U. & Mense, S. The influence of mechanical stimuli and of acetylsalicylic acid on the discharges of slowly conducting afferent units from normal and inflamed muscle in the rat. Exp Brain Res 92, 431–440 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00229031
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00229031