Abstract:
Objective To investigate the specific mechanism of analgesic effects of sufentanil on neuropathic pain in mice.
Methods The model of neuropathic pain in mice was established, and randomly divided into the sham operation group (Sham group), spinal nerve ligation (SNL) group, SNL + sufentanil group and SNL + chloroquine group. The SNL + sufentanil group were given 1 μg/kg sufentanil by intragastric administration, the SNL + chloroquine group were intraperitoneally injected with 0.02g/kg chloroquine, and the rest were given the same volume of normal saline once a day. HE staining and Nissl staining were used to observe the pathological changes of spinal dorsal horn and degenerative neurons in mice with neuropathic pain, Western blotting and immunofluorescence were used to detect the protein expression levels of AMPK, mTOR and ULK1, and RT-qPCR was used to detect the expression levels of AMPK, mTOR and ULK1 genes in nerve tissues of mice in each group.
Results After surgical modeling, the mechanical stimulation foot-retraction threshold and thermal stimulation foot-retraction threshold in the SNL group were significantly lower than those in Sham group (P < 0.01). Compared with the SNL group, the mechanical stimulation foot-retraction threshold and thermal stimulation foot-retraction threshold in the SNL + Sufentanil group and SNL + Chloroquine group increased (P < 0.01). Compared with the Sham group, the disordered spinal dorsal horn cell structure, cell swelling, severe cell shrinkage, obvious disappearance of nucleoli and increased space between neurons were observed in the SNL group. Compared with the SNL group, the above pathological damage of nerve tissue in SNL + sufentanil group and SNL + chloroquine group significantly relieved. The results of Western blotting, immunofluorescence and q-PCR showed that compared with the Sham group, the expression levels of mTOR in the SNL group decreased (P < 0.05), and the expression levels of AMPK and ULK1 increased (P < 0.05). Compared with the SNL group, the expression levels of AMPK and ULK1 in SNL + Sufentanil group decreased (P < 0.05), and the expression level of mTOR increased (P < 0.05).
Conclusions Sufentanil can increase the pain threshold of mice through autophagy mediated by AMPK/ mTOR signaling pathway to achieve analgesic effect.