IMMUNE-MEDIATED INFLAMMATION IN DORSAL ROOT GANGLIA AFTER PERIPHERAL NERVE INJURY AND IN SENSORY NEUROPATHIES

Funded Activity Summary

Damage to the nervous system can occur because of accidental or iatrogenic trauma, toxins, infection, metabolic disorders, and even normal ageing. The consequences can outweigh the direct effects of the injury. Almost all injury to the nervous system results in loss of nerve cells and consequently modified sensation and movement. Nerve damage may also be followed by sensory disturbances, ranging from tingling, numbness and abnormal temperature sensations to spontaneous pain, allodynia (painful sensations from light touch) or hyperalgesia (increased sensitivity to a damaging stimulus). Some of these symptoms are encountered in older people as they lose sensory neurones. The problems are chronic and most are intractable to drugs. This project will clarify how immune-mediated inflammation of dorsal root (sensory) ganglia (DRGs) contributes to these sequelae. Even the simplest form of neural damage following peripheral nerve injury can produce changes in regions of the nervous system far from the parts directly involved in the injury. Our recent work has described for the first time the involvement of the immune system in triggering changes in DRGs following transection of a distant peripheral nerve in rats. T-cell activation leads to invasion of macrophages and production of proinflammatory cytokines. These substances can activate sensory neurones and may be responsible for progressive neuronal death. Thus we have established a simple system in which we can evaluate the influx of T-cells and macrophages of different kinds into DRGs after injury and other insults. We intend to use this to define the sequence of cellular events involved in recruitment of immune cells and compare it with other experimental interventions known to produce a neuroimmune response in this system. This will identify whether the DRG is a special site for neuroimmune interactions and so should be a target for therapy.

Funded Activity Details

Start Date: 01-01-2003

End Date: 01-01-2005

Funding Scheme: NHMRC Project Grants

Funding Amount: $378,300.00

Funder: National Health and Medical Research Council

Research Topics

ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)

Medical microbiology not elsewhere classified

ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)

There are no SEO codes available for this funding activity

Other Keywords

Chronic neuropathic pain | Inflammation in the nervous system | Neuroimmune response to injury | Neuropathic pain | Peripheral nerve damage | Rehabilitation after trauma | Sensory abnormalities after injury | Sensory neuropathies | Spinal cord damage | Spinal cord injury

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