Front. Neuroanat., 2015 · DOI: 10.3389/fnana.2015.00043 · Published: April 10, 2015
Peripheral nerve injuries, caused by surgeries or trauma, can lead to persistent pain that is difficult to treat. This study examines how injuries to nerves in the pelvic region, which contain sensory axons projecting to pelvic organs, affect the spinal cord. The researchers focused on two nerves, the pelvic and hypogastric nerves, and looked at changes in the spinal cord after these nerves were injured. They specifically looked at the distribution of certain proteins (GFRα1, GFRα2, GFRα3, and CGRP) that are found in different types of nerve fibers. The study found that injury to the pelvic nerve caused changes in the distribution of GFRα1 and CGRP in the sacral spinal cord, which is the region that receives sensory input from the pelvic organs. These changes suggest that visceral nerve injury has different effects compared to somatic nerve injury.
The study highlights the differences in how the nervous system responds to injury in visceral versus somatic nerves, which could lead to better understanding and treatment of visceral pain conditions.
Identifying specific changes in receptor expression (like GFRα1 and CGRP) after nerve injury can help develop targeted therapies to modulate these receptors and alleviate pain.
The study suggests that sensory-autonomic interactions in the spinal cord play a role in post-injury regulation, opening avenues for exploring therapies that modulate these interactions.