Descending pathways from activated locus coeruleus/subcoeruleus following unilateral hindpaw inflammation in the rat

We have previously shown that the descending pathways from the locus coeruleus (LC)/subcoeruleus (SC) to the spinal cord are activated during peripheral inflammation, and that activation of this coeruleospinal system decreases development of hyperalgesia. Anatomical evidence suggests that the descending modulation system from the LC/SC should be active bilaterally during inflammation when the LC/SC either ipsilateral or contralateral to the site of inflammation is activated. In the present study, the development of hyperalgesia following the induction of unilateral hindpaw inflammation was compared between rats with either bilateral or unilateral lesions of the LC/SC and rats with a sham operation. Four hours after carrageenan injection, in the inflamed paw, paw withdrawal latencies (PWLs) to thermal stimuli of the bilateral LC/SC-lesioned rats were significantly shorter than those of the unilateral LC/SC-lesioned and the sham-operated rats, whereas the decreased PWLs of the unilateral LC/SC-lesioned rats were equivalent to those of the sham-operated rats. A difference in PWL between the bilateral and the unilateral LC/SC-lesioned rats was not observed in the contralateral non-inflamed paw. The result suggests that in the LC/SC both ipsilateral and contralateral to the inflamed paw, only neurons which project to the dorsal horn ipsilateral to the inflamed paw were activated following peripheral inflammation.