Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

LIVE: Thursday 27th June 2024, 18:00-19:30 (CEST)
Join our expert panel to discover why you need to understand the drivers of non-adherence in your patients, and how you can optimize medication adherence in your clinics to drastically improve patient outcomes.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
Molecular Pain
Published in: Molecular Pain 1/2011

Open Access 01-12-2011 | Research

Selective nociceptor activation in volunteers by infrared diode laser

Authors: Alexander Z Tzabazis, Michael Klukinov, Sonia Crottaz-Herbette, Mikhail I Nemenov, Martin S Angst, David C Yeomans

Published in: Molecular Pain | Issue 1/2011

Login to get access

Abstract

Background

Two main classes of peripheral sensory neurons contribute to thermal pain sensitivity: the unmyelinated C fibers and thinly myelinated Aδ fibers. These two fiber types may differentially underlie different clinical pain states and distinctions in the efficacy of analgesic treatments. Methods of differentially testing C and Aδ thermal pain are widely used in animal experimentation, but these methods are not optimal for human volunteer and patient use. Thus, this project aimed to provide psychophysical and electrophysiological evidence that whether different protocols of infrared diode laser stimulation, which allows for direct activation of nociceptive terminals deep in the skin, could differentially activate Aδ or C fiber thermonociceptors in volunteers.

Results

Short (60 ms), high intensity laser pulses (SP) evoked monomodal "pricking" pain which was not enhanced by topical capsaicin, whereas longer, lower power pulses (LP) evoked monomodal "burning" pain which was enhanced by topical capsaicin. SP also produced cortical evoked EEG potentials consistent with Aδ mediation, the amplitude of which was directly correlated with pain intensity but was not affected by topical capsaicin. LP also produced a distinct evoked potential pattern the amplitude of which was also correlated with pain intensity, which was enhanced by topical capsaicin, and the latency of which could be used to estimate the conduction velocity of the mediating nociceptive fibers.

Conclusions

Psychophysical and electrophysiological data were consistent with the ability of short high intensity infrared laser pulses to selectively produce Aδ mediated pain and of longer pulses to selectively produce C fiber mediated thermal pain. Thus, the use of these or similar protocols may be useful in developing and testing novel therapeutics based on the differential molecular mechanisms underlying activation of the two fiber types (e.g., TRPV1, TRPV2, etc). In addition, these protocol may be useful in determining the fiber mediation of different clinical pain types which may, in turn be useful in treatment choice.
Appendix
Available only for authorised users
Literature
1.
2.
3.
Yeomans DC, Pirec V, Proudfit HK: Nociceptive responses to high and low rates of noxious cutaneous heating are mediated by different nociceptors in the rat: behavioral evidence. Pain 1996, 68: 133–140. 10.1016/S0304-3959(96)03176-4PubMedCrossRef
4.
Yeomans DC, Proudfit HK: Nociceptive responses to high and low rates of noxious cutaneous heating are mediated by different nociceptors in the rat: electrophysiological evidence. Pain 1996, 68: 141–150. 10.1016/S0304-3959(96)03177-6PubMedCrossRef
5.
Torebjörk HE, Hallin RG: Perceptual changes accompanying controlled preferential blocking of A and C fibre responses in intact human skin nerves. Exp Brain Res 1973, 16: 321–332.PubMedCrossRef
6.
Price DD, Barrell JJ, Gracely RH: A psychophysical analysis of experimential factors that selectively influence the affective dimension of pain. Pain 1980, 8: 137–149. 10.1016/0304-3959(88)90001-2PubMedCrossRef
7.
Adriaensen H, Gybels J, Handwerker HO, Van Hees J: Response properties of thin myelinated (A-delta) fibers in human skin nerves. J Neurophysiol 1983, 49: 111–122.PubMed
8.
Meyer RA, Walker RE, Mountcastle VB: A laser stimulator for the study of cutaneous thermal and pain sensations. IEEE Trans Biomed Eng 1976, 23: 54–60. 10.1109/TBME.1976.324616PubMedCrossRef
9.
Kakigi R, Shibasaki H, Tanaka K, Ikeda T, Oda K, Endo C, Ikeda A, Neshige R, Kuroda Y, K. M: CO2 laser-induced pain-related somatosensory evoked potentials in peripheral neuropathies: correlation between electrophysiological and histopathological findings. Muscle Nerve 1991, 14: 441–450. 10.1002/mus.880140510PubMedCrossRef
10.
Kakigi R, Watanabe S, Yamasaki H: Pain-Related somatosensory evoked potentials. J Clin Neurophysiol 2000, 17: 295–308. 10.1097/00004691-200005000-00007PubMedCrossRef
11.
Tran TD, Lam K, Hoshiyama M, Kakigi R: A new method for measuring the conduction velocities of Abeta-, Adelta- and C-fibers following electric and CO(2) laser stimulation in humans. Neurosci Lett 2001, 301: 187–190. 10.1016/S0304-3940(01)01639-1PubMedCrossRef
12.
Arendt-Nielsen L, Bjerring P: Laser-induced pain for evaluation of local analgesia: a comparison of topical application (EMLA) and local injection (lidocaine). Anesth Analg 1988, 67: 115–123. 10.1213/00000539-198802000-00003PubMedCrossRef
13.
Arendt-Nielsen L, Bjerring P: Sensory and pain threshold characteristics to laser stimuli. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 1988, 51: 35–42. 10.1136/jnnp.51.1.35PubMedCentralPubMedCrossRef
14.
Bromm B, Jahnke MT, Treede RD: Responses of human cutaneous afferents to CO2 laser stimuli causing pain. Exp Brain Res 1984, 55: 158–166. 10.1007/BF00240510PubMedCrossRef
15.
Bromm B, Treede RD: Nerve fibre discharges, cerebral potentials and sensations induced by CO2 laser stimulation. Hum Neurobiol 1984, 3: 33–40.PubMed
16.
Spiegel J, Hansen C, Treede RD: Clinical evaluation criteria for the assessment of impaired pain sensitivity by thulium-laser evoked potentials. Clin Neurophysiol 2000, 111: 725–735. 10.1016/S1388-2457(99)00297-7PubMedCrossRef
17.
Treede RD, Kief S, Hölzer T, Bromm B: Late somatosensory evoked cerebral potentials in response to cutaneous heat stimuli. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol 1988, 70: 429–441. 10.1016/0013-4694(88)90020-XPubMedCrossRef
18.
Greffrath W, Nemenov MI, Schwarz S, Baumgärtner U, Vogel H, Arendt-Nielsen L, Treede RD: Inward currents in primary nociceptive neurons of the rat and pain sensations in humans elicited by infrared diode laser pulses. Pain 2002, 99: 145–155. 10.1016/S0304-3959(02)00071-4PubMedCrossRef
19.
Plaghki L, Mouraux A: How do we selectively activate skin nociceptors with a high power infrared laser? Physiology and biophysics of laser stimulation. Neurophysiol Clin 2003, 33: 269–277. 10.1016/j.neucli.2003.10.003PubMedCrossRef
20.
Plaghki L, Mouraux A: EEG and laser stimulation as tools for pain research. Curr Opin Investig Drugs 2005, 6: 58–64.PubMed
21.
Cuellar JM, Manering NA, Klukinov M, Nemenov MI, Yeomans DC: Thermal nociceptive properties of trigeminal afferent neurons in rats. Mol Pain 2010, 6: 39. 10.1186/1744-8069-6-39PubMedCentralPubMedCrossRef
22.
Veldhuijzen DS, Nemenov MI, Keaser M, Zhuo J, Gullapalli RP, Greenspan JD: Differential brain activation associated with laser-evoked burning and pricking pain: An event-related fMRI study. Pain 2009, 141: 104–113. 10.1016/j.pain.2008.10.027PubMedCrossRef
23.
Tzabazis A, Klyukinov M, Manering N, Nemenov MI, Shafer SL, Yeomans DC: Differential activation of trigeminal C or Adelta nociceptors by infrared diode laser in rats: behavioral evidence. Brain Res 2005, 1037: 148–156. 10.1016/j.brainres.2005.01.019PubMedCrossRef
24.
Haimi-Cohen R, Cohen A, Carmon A: A model for the temperature distribution in skin noxiously stimulated by a brief pulse of CO2 laser radiation. J Neurosci Methods 1983, 8: 127–137. 10.1016/0165-0270(83)90113-9PubMedCrossRef
25.
Plaghki L, Decruynaere C, Van Dooren P, Le Bars D: The fine tuning of pain thresholds: a sophisticated double alarm system. PLoS One 2010, 5: e10269. 10.1371/journal.pone.0010269PubMedCentralPubMedCrossRef
26.
Granovsky Y, Matre D, Sokolik A, Lorenz J, Casey KL: Thermoreceptive innervation of human glabrous and hairy skin: a contact heat evoked potential analysis. Pain 2005, 115: 238–247. 10.1016/j.pain.2005.02.017PubMedCrossRef
27.
Tillman DB, Treede RD, Meyer RA, Campbell JN: Response of C fibre nociceptors in the anaesthetized monkey to heat stimuli: estimates of receptor depth and threshold. J Physiol 1995,485(Pt 3):753–765.PubMedCentralPubMedCrossRef
28.
Baumann TK, Simone DA, Shain CN, LaMotte RH: Neurogenic hyperalgesia: the search for the primary cutaneous afferent fibers that contribute to capsaicin-induced pain and hyperalgesia. J Neurophysiol 1991, 66: 212–227.PubMed
29.
Yeomans DC, Cooper BY, Vierck CJ: Effects of systemic morphine on responses of primates to first or second pain sensations. Pain 1996, 66: 253–263. 10.1016/0304-3959(96)03082-5PubMedCrossRef
30.
Hallin RG, Torebjork HE, Wiesenfeld Z: Nociceptors and warm receptors innervated by C fibres in human skin. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 1982, 45: 313–319. 10.1136/jnnp.45.4.313PubMedCentralPubMedCrossRef
31.
Iannetti GD, Truini A, Romaniello A, Galeotti F, Rizzo C, Manfredi M, Cruccu G: Evidence of a specific spinal pathway for the sense of warmth in humans. J Neurophysiol 2003, 89: 562–570. 10.1152/jn.00393.2002PubMedCrossRef
32.
Magerl W, Ali Z, Ellrich J, Meyer RA, Treede RD: C- and A delta-fiber components of heat-evoked cerebral potentials in healthy human subjects. Pain 1999, 82: 127–137. 10.1016/S0304-3959(99)00061-5PubMedCrossRef
Metadata
Title
Selective nociceptor activation in volunteers by infrared diode laser
Authors
Alexander Z Tzabazis
Michael Klukinov
Sonia Crottaz-Herbette
Mikhail I Nemenov
Martin S Angst
David C Yeomans
Publication date
01-12-2011
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Molecular Pain / Issue 1/2011
Electronic ISSN: 1744-8069
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/1744-8069-7-18

Other articles of this Issue 1/2011

Molecular Pain 1/2011 Go to the issue

Research

Intra- and interfamily phenotypic diversity in pain syndromes associated with a gain-of-function variant of NaV1.7

Research

Involvement of spinal NR2B-containing NMDA receptors in oxaliplatin-induced mechanical allodynia in rats

Research

Central nervous system mast cells in peripheral inflammatory nociception

Research

Autophagy impairment in a mouse model of neuropathic pain

Methodology

The Rat Grimace Scale: A partially automated method for quantifying pain in the laboratory rat via facial expressions

Research

Galanin-immunoreactivity identifies a distinct population of inhibitory interneurons in laminae I-III of the rat spinal cord