Anterior cingulate cortex connectivity is associated with suppression of behaviour in a rat model of chronic pain.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Morris LS
PROVIDER: S-EPMC6109941 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and hippocampus (HIPP) are two key brain regions associated with pain and pain-related affective processing. However, whether and how pelvic pain alters the neural activity and connectivity of the ACC and HIPP under baseline and during social pain, and the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms, remain unclear. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) combined with electrophysiology and biochemistry, we show that pelvic pain, particularly, primary dysmenorrhea (PDM), causes an increase in the functional connectivity between ACC and HIPP in resting-state fMRI, and a smaller reduction in connectivity during social exclusion in PDM females with periovulatory phase. Similarly, model rats demonstrate significantly increased ACC-HIPP synchronization in the gamma band, associating with reduced modulation by ACC-theta on HIPP-gamma and increased levels of receptor proteins and excitation. This study brings together human fMRI and animal research and enables improved therapeutic strategies for ameliorating pain and pain-related affective processing.
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Project description:Chronic pain easily leads to concomitant mood disorders, and the excitability of anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) pyramidal neurons (PNs) is involved in chronic pain-related anxiety. However, the mechanism by which PNs regulate pain-related anxiety is still unknown. The GABAergic system plays an important role in modulating neuronal activity. In this paper, we aimed to study how the GABAergic system participates in regulating the excitability of ACC PNs, consequently affecting chronic inflammatory pain-related anxiety. A rat model of CFA-induced chronic inflammatory pain displayed anxiety-like behaviors, increased the excitability of ACC PNs, and reduced inhibitory presynaptic transmission; however, the number of GAD65/67 was not altered. Interestingly, intra-ACC injection of the GABAAR agonist muscimol relieved anxiety-like behaviors but had no effect on chronic inflammatory pain. Intra-ACC injection of the GABAAR antagonist picrotoxin induced anxiety-like behaviors but had no effect on pain in normal rats. Notably, chemogenetic activation of GABAergic neurons in the ACC alleviated chronic inflammatory pain and pain-induced anxiety-like behaviors, enhanced inhibitory presynaptic transmission, and reduced the excitability of ACC PNs. Chemogenetic inhibition of GABAergic neurons in the ACC led to pain-induced anxiety-like behaviors, reduced inhibitory presynaptic transmission, and enhanced the excitability of ACC PNs but had no effect on pain in normal rats. We demonstrate that the GABAergic system mediates a reduction in inhibitory presynaptic transmission in the ACC, which leads to enhanced excitability of pyramidal neurons in the ACC and is associated with chronic inflammatory pain-related anxiety.
| S-EPMC8431944 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Pain is a complex multidimensional experience encompassing sensory-discriminative, affective-motivational and cognitive-emotional components mediated by different neural mechanisms. Investigations of neurophysiological signals from simultaneous recordings of two or more cortical circuits may reveal important circuit mechanisms on cortical pain processing. The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and primary somatosensory cortex (S1) represent two most important cortical circuits related to sensory and affective processing of pain. Here, we recorded in vivo extracellular activity of the ACC and S1 simultaneously from male adult Sprague-Dale rats (n = 5), while repetitive noxious laser stimulations were delivered to animalÕs hindpaw during pain experiments. We identified spontaneous pain-like events based on stereotyped pain behaviors in rats. We further conducted systematic analyses of spike and local field potential (LFP) recordings from both ACC and S1 during evoked and spontaneous pain episodes. From LFP recordings, we found stronger phase-amplitude coupling (theta phase vs. gamma amplitude) in the S1 than the ACC (n = 10 sessions), in both evoked (p = 0.058) and spontaneous pain-like behaviors (p = 0.017, paired signed rank test). In addition, pain-modulated ACC and S1 neuronal firing correlated with the amplitude of stimulus-induced event-related potentials (ERPs) during evoked pain episodes. We further designed statistical and machine learning methods to detect pain signals by integrating ACC and S1 ensemble spikes and LFPs. Together, these results reveal differential coding roles between the ACC and S1 in cortical pain processing, as well as point to distinct neural mechanisms between evoked and putative spontaneous pain at both LFP and cellular levels.
| S-EPMC6492531 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC) is a key node of the descending antinociceptive system with sex differences in its functional connectivity (FC). We previously reported that, in a male-prevalent chronic pain condition, sgACC FC is abnormal in women but not in men. This raises the possibility that, within a sex, sgACC FC may be either protective or represent a vulnerability to develop a sex-dominant chronic pain condition. The aim of this study was to characterize sgACC FC in a female-dominant chronic pain condition, carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), to investigate whether sgACC abnormalities are a common feature in women with chronic pain or unique to individuals with pain conditions that are more prevalent in the opposite sex. We used fMRI to determine the resting state FC of the sgACC in healthy controls (HCs, n = 25, 18 women; 7 men) and people with CTS before (n = 25, 18 women; 7 men) and after (n = 17, 13 women; 4 men) successful surgical treatment. We found reduced sgACC FC with the medial pre-frontal cortex (mPFC) and temporal lobe in CTS compared with HCs. The group-level sgACC-mPFC FC abnormality was driven by men with CTS, while women with CTS did not have sgACC FC abnormalities compared with healthy women. We also found that age and sex influenced sgACC FC in both CTS and HCs, with women showing greater FC with bilateral frontal poles and men showing greater FC with the parietal operculum. After surgery, there was reduced sgACC FC with the orbitofrontal cortex, striatum, and premotor areas and increased FC with the posterior insula and precuneus compared with pre-op scans. Abnormally reduced sgACC-mPFC FC in men but not women with a female-prevalent chronic pain condition suggests pain-related sgACC abnormalities may not be specific to women but rather to individuals who develop chronic pain conditions that are more dominant in the opposite sex. Our data suggest the sgACC plays a role in chronic pain in a sex-specific manner, and its communication with other regions of the dynamic pain connectome undergoes plasticity following pain-relieving treatment, supporting it as a potential therapeutic target for neuromodulation in chronic pain.
| S-EPMC8915549 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundLiver X receptors (LXRs), including LXRα and LXRβ, are key regulators of transcriptional programs for both cholesterol homeostasis and inflammation in the brain. Here, the modes of action of LXRs and the epigenetic mechanisms regulating LXRβ expression in anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) of chronic inflammatory pain (CIP) are investigated.MethodsThe deficit of LXR isoform and analgesic effect of LXR activation by GW3965 were evaluated using the mouse model of CIP induced by hindpaw injection of complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA). The mechanisms involved in GW-mediated analgesic effects were analyzed with immunohistochemical methods, ELISA, co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP), Western blot, and electrophysiological recording. The epigenetic regulation of LXRβ expression was investigated by chromatin immunoprecipitation, quantitative real-time PCR, and sequencing.ResultsWe revealed that CFA insult led to LXRβ reduction in ACC, which was associated with upregulated expression of histone deacetylase 5 (HDAC5), and knockdown of LXRβ by shRNA led to thermal hyperalgesia. Co-IP showed that LXRβ interacted with NF-κB p65 physically. LXRβ activation by GW3965 exerted analgesic effects by inhibiting the nuclear translocation of NF-κB, reducing the phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) in ACC, and decreasing the promoted input-output and enhanced mEPSC frequency in ACC neurons after CFA exposure. In vitro experiments confirmed that HDAC5 triggered histone deacetylation on the promoter region of Lxrβ, resulting in downregulation of Lxrβ transcription.ConclusionThese findings highlight an epigenetic mechanism underlying LXRβ deficits linked to CIP, and LXRβ activation may represent a potential novel target for the treatment of CIP with an alteration in inflammation responses and synaptic transmission in ACC.
| S-EPMC6599528 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) has been extensively implicated in the functional brain network underlying chronic pain. Electrical stimulation of the ACC has been proposed as a therapy for refractory chronic pain, although, mechanisms of therapeutic action are still unclear. As stimulation of the ACC has been reported to produce many different behavioral and perceptual responses, this region likely plays a varied role in sensory and emotional integration as well as modulating internally generated perceptual states. In this case series, we report the emergence of subjective musical hallucinations (MH) after electrical stimulation of the ACC in two patients with refractory chronic pain. In an N-of-1 analysis from one patient, we identified neural activity (local field potentials) that distinguish MH from both the non-MH condition and during a task involving music listening. Music hallucinations were associated with reduced alpha band activity and increased gamma band activity in the ACC. Listening to similar music was associated with different changes in ACC alpha and gamma power, extending prior results that internally generated perceptual phenomena are supported by circuits in the ACC. We discuss these findings in the context of phantom perceptual phenomena and posit a framework whereby chronic pain may be interpreted as a persistent internally generated percept.
| S-EPMC8129573 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Pyramidal neurons in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a prefrontal region involved in processing the affective components of pain, display hyperexcitability in chronic neuropathic pain conditions, and their silencing abolishes hyperalgesia. We show that dopamine, through D1 receptor (D1R) signaling, inhibits pyramidal neurons of mouse ACC by modulation of hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated (HCN) channels. Activation of Gs-coupled D1R by dopamine induces the opening of HCN channels at physiological membrane potentials, driving a significant decrease in input resistance and excitability. Systemic L-DOPA in chronic neuropathic mice rescues HCN channel activity, normalizes pyramidal excitability in ACC, and blocks mechanical and thermal allodynia. Moreover, microinjection of a selective D1R agonist in the ACC relieves the aversiveness of ongoing neuropathic pain, while an ACC D1R antagonist blocks gabapentin- and lidocaine-evoked antinociception. We conclude that dopaminergic inhibition via D1R in ACC plays an analgesic role in physiological conditions and is decreased in chronic pain.
| S-EPMC8728690 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundNeuropathic pain (NP) takes a heavy toll on individual life quality, yet gaps in its molecular characterization persist and effective therapy is lacking. This study aimed to provide comprehensive knowledge by combining transcriptomic and proteomic data of molecular correlates of NP in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a cortical hub responsible for affective pain processing.MethodsThe NP model was established by spared nerve injury (SNI) in Sprague-Dawley rats. RNA sequencing and proteomic data from the ACC tissue isolated from sham and SNI rats 2 weeks after surgery were integrated to compare their gene and protein expression profiles. Bioinformatic analyses were performed to figure out the functions and signaling pathways of the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) enriched in.ResultsTranscriptomic analysis identified a total of 788 DEGs (with 49 genes upregulated) after SNI surgery, while proteomic analysis found 222 DEPs (with 89 proteins upregulated). While Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment analyses of the DEGs suggested that most of the altered genes were involved in synaptic transmission and plasticity, bioinformatics analysis of the DEPs revealed novel critical pathways associated with autophagy, mitophagy, and peroxisome. Notably, we noticed functionally important NP-related changes in the protein that occurred in the absence of corresponding changes at the level of transcription. Venn diagram analysis of the transcriptomic and proteomic data identified 10 overlapping targets, among which only three genes (XK-related protein 4, NIPA-like domain-containing 3, and homeodomain-interacting protein kinase 3) showed concordance in the directions of change and strong correlations between mRNA and protein levels.ConclusionThe present study identified novel pathways in the ACC in addition to confirming previously reported mechanisms for NP etiology, and provided novel mechanistic insights for future research on NP treatment. These findings also imply that mRNA profiling alone fails to provide a complete landscape of molecular pain in the ACC. Therefore, explorations of changes at the level of protein are necessary to understand NP processes that are not transcriptionally modulated.
| S-EPMC10311218 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Chronic pain is a persistent unpleasant sensation that produces pathological synaptic plasticity in the central nervous system. Some of the studies demonstrate that the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is a critical area for nociceptive and chronic pain processing. Our previous study revealed that animal models of chronic pain alter excitatory and inhibitory synaptic transmission in the ACC. However, it is not clear what molecules are involved in the alterations of synaptic plasticity in the ACC of chronic pain models. To identify genes with altered expression in the ACC of a chronic pain model, whole transcriptome analysis were performed. In addition to the ACC, whole transcriptome analysis was also performed in the hippocampus, a brain region that has not been reported to be associated with chronic pain. Complete freund's adjuvant (CFA, Sigma-Aldrich, #F5881) into the left hind paw was used for induce chronic inflammatory pain in this study.
2021-04-01 | GSE147216 | GEO
Project description:Negative pain expectation including pain catastrophizing is a well-known clinical phenomenon whereby patients amplify the aversive value of a painful or oftentimes even a similar, non-painful stimulus. Mechanisms of pain catastrophizing, however, remain elusive. Here, we modeled pain catastrophizing behavior in rats, and found that rats subjected to repeated noxious pin pricks on one paw demonstrated an aversive response to similar but non-noxious mechanical stimuli delivered to the contralateral paw. Optogenetic inhibition of pyramidal neuron activity in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) during the application of repetitive noxious pin pricks eliminated this catastrophizing behavior. Time-lapse calcium (Ca2+) imaging in the ACC further revealed an increase in spontaneous neural activity after the delivery of noxious stimuli. Together these results suggest that the experience of repeated noxious stimuli may drive hyperactivity in the ACC, causing increased avoidance of subthreshold stimuli, and that reducing this hyperactivity may play a role in treating pain catastrophizing.
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