Mechanical stimulation enhances endothelin-1 hyperalgesia

When comparing a cumulative dose–response curve for endothelin-1 (ET-1)-induced mechanical hyperalgesia to the effect of individual doses (1 ng, 10 ng, 100 ng, and 1 μg) administered in separate groups of rats, a marked difference was observed in the peak magnitude of hyperalgesia. Hyperalgesia was measured as decrease in the threshold for mechanically-induced withdrawal of the hind paw. The cumulative dosing protocol produced markedly greater maximum hyperalgesia. To determine whether this was due to the cumulative dosing protocol or to the repeated exposure to the mechanical test stimulus, we evaluated the impact of repeated testing on ET-1-induced mechanical hyperalgesia. While ET-1-induced mechanical hyperalgesia was dose- and time-dependent, repeated testing of nociceptive threshold, at 5 min intervals, following a single dose of ET-1, produced further decrease in nociceptive threshold. This mechanical stimulation-induced enhancement of ET-1 hyperalgesia lasted only 3–4 h, while the hyperalgesia lasted in excess of 5 days. The stimulation-enhanced hyperalgesia also occurred after a second injection of ET-1, administered 24 h after the initial dose. That this phenomenon is unique to ET-1 is suggested by the observation that while five additional, direct-acting hyperalgesic agents—prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), nerve growth factor (NGF), glia-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα)—induced robust mechanical hyperalgesia, none produced mechanical stimulation-enhanced hyperalgesia.

Research highlights▶ET plays an important role in clinical pain, especially from blood vessels. ▶ET produces a mechanical stimulus-inducible enhancement of hyperalgesia. ▶Enhancement of hyperalgesia appears to not be mediated by action on nociceptors. ▶Among proalgesic substances, only ET produces enhancement of hyperalgesia.