Fig. 7.
Blockade of γ-aminobutyric acid uptake in dorsal root ganglion alleviates thermal hyperalgesia postcrush sciatic nerve injury. Thermal paw withdrawal latencies (PWLs) were measured in rats after sciatic crush injury (marked with an arrow as SURGERY) and thermal hyperalgesia was confirmed with a significant decrease in PWLs on postoperative day (POD) 2 (***P < 0.001 baseline [B] vs. POD 2). Post-NO-711 treatment (marked with an arrow as NO-711), there was significant alleviation of thermal hyperalgesia, that is, the PWLs in NO-711-treated animals (closed triangles) were significantly increased when compared with a vehicle treatment (closed squares) (††P < 0.01; †††P < 0.001; n = 9 and 10 rats per data point in NO-711 and vehicle groups, respectively). The increase in PWLs also resulted in significant alleviation of thermal hyperalgesia on PODs 3 (#P < 0.05) and 4 (##P < 0.01) when compared with POD 2 immediately before the treatment. The PWLs in vehicle-treated group remained significantly decreased throughout the testing period when compared with the baseline PWL recordings (***P < 0.001; baseline [B] vs. any given POD).