Catestatin is involved in neuropathic pain mediated by purinergic receptor P2X4 in the spinal microglia of rats.
Neuropathic pain is defined as a type of chronic pathological pain that often results from nerve damage or disease. The purinergic receptor P2X4 is mainly expressed on the cell surface of spinal dorsal horn microglia and is known to be involved in neuropathic pain. Catestatin (CST) is an endogenous peptide derived from chromogranin A. Here, we attempted to identify how CST function in neuropathic pain. Rat model of chronic constriction injury (CCI) was used and experimental results indicated that mechanical and thermal pain sensitivities were significantly increased in CCI rats. The group of CCI rats that received intrathecal CST injection (CCI + CST) exhibited higher P2X4 mRNA and protein levels compared with the CCI group. Moreover, the phosphorylation level of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) in the CCI + CST group was higher than in the CCI group. This suggested that CST might aggravate neuropathic pain by enhancing P2X4 receptor expression in spinal microglia, and that the ERK1/2 pathway might be key in the development of neuropathic pain.
['Deng|Zeyu|Z|', 'Li|Congcong|C|', 'Liu|Chenglong|C|', 'Du|Errong|E|', 'Xu|Changshui|C|']
D000818:Animals D053379:Chromogranin A D003251:Constriction, Pathologic D004195:Disease Models, Animal D006930:Hyperalgesia D008297:Male D017628:Microglia D019950:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 1 D048052:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 3 D009437:Neuralgia D010446:Peptide Fragments D012333:RNA, Messenger D011897:Random Allocation D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley D058848:Receptors, Purinergic P2X4 D012584:Sciatic Nerve D013116:Spinal Cord D015854:Up-Regulation
Catestatin Neuropathic pain Microglia Spinal dorsal horn Extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 P2X(4)receptor