Increased responsiveness of rat dorsal horn neurons in vivo following prolonged intrathecal exposure to interferon-γ

Abstract Prolonged increases in the level of the pro-inflammatory cytokine interferon-γ occur in the CNS during some disease states associated with persistent pain. Administration of interferon-γ to both humans and rodents has produced pain or pain-related behavior but the underlying mechanisms are unknown. The present study examined the effects of repeated intrathecal administration of interferon-γ on dorsal horn neuronal responses under in vivo conditions. In addition, behavioral effects of interferon-γ treatment were studied. Intrathecal cannulae were implanted into anesthetized rats. Animals then received either 1000 U of recombinant rat interferon-γ in 10μl buffer intrathecally, repeated four times over 8 days, or similarly administered buffer (controls). Interferon-γ-treated animals showed a significant reduction in paw withdrawal threshold to mechanical stimulation of the hind paw. Electrophysiological experiments were performed under halothane anesthesia. Extracellular recordings of spontaneous and evoked responses were obtained from dorsal horn neurons ( n =64) in the lumbar spinal cord. There was a significantly higher proportion of spontaneously active neurons in the interferon-γ-treated animals (50%) when compared with controls (19%). A significantly increased proportion of neurons from interferon-γ-treated animals displayed afterdischarges following both innocuous and noxious mechanical stimulation of the receptive field (brush: 21% in interferon-γ-treated, 3% in controls; pinch: 97% in interferon-γ-treated, 50% in controls). Neurons from interferon-γ-treated animals also showed significantly increased wind-up of action potentials in response to repeated electrical stimulation of the sciatic nerve at C-fiber strength at both 0.5 and 1Hz. Paired-pulse inhibition, evoked through electrical stimulation of the cutaneous receptive field, was significantly decreased in neurons from interferon-γ-treated animals at 50 and 100 ms inter-stimulus intervals. We propose that this demonstrated reduction in inhibition may underlie the enhanced excitatory responses. Such interferon-γ-induced changes in evoked responses may contribute to persistent pain following damage or disease states in the nervous system.