Involvement of anterior cingulate cortex in comorbidity of pain and cognitive impairment post-spinal cord injury in mice
10.16557/j.cnki.1000-7547.2025.01.002
- VernacularTitle:前扣带回皮质参与小鼠脊髓损伤后疼痛和认知障碍共病
- Author:
Ke TIAN
1
;
Rui ZHAO
;
Kunlong ZHANG
;
Xiaolong SUN
;
Hua YUAN
Author Information
1. 西北大学生命科学学院,西安 710069;空军军医大学西京医院康复理疗科,西安 710032
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
spinal cord injury(SCI);
neuropathic pain(NP);
cognitive impairment;
c-Fos;
vesicular glutamate transporter 2(VGLUT2);
glutamic acid decarboxylase 67(GAD67);
mouse
- From:
Chinese Journal of Neuroanatomy
2025;41(1):9-17
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Objective:To investigate the effects of spinal cord injury(SCI)on neuropathic pain(NP)and cognitive dysfunction in mice,as well as the activation of neurons in the anterior cingulate cortex(ACC),in order to provide experimental evidence for the connection between NP and cognitive dysfunction following SCI.Methods:Ten 8-week-old male C57BL/6J mice were used to prepare a model of spinal cord hemisection(SCI).Pain behavior and cognitive function of mice after SCI were assessed using von Frey,thermal stimulation,and Morris water maze behavioral experi-ments.Immunofluorescence staining were used to analyze the expression of c-Fos and GAD67/VGLUT2 positive cells in the anterior cingulate cortex(ACC)of the SCI model mice.Results:Compared with the Sham group,the SCI group of mice showed a significant decrease in mechanical threshold and thermal pain threshold(P＜0.05).The Morris water maze results indicated a significantly prolonged escape latency(P＜0.05)and a significant reduction in the use of search strategies for locating the hidden platform.Immunofluorescence results showed a significant increase in the num-ber of c-Fos positive cells in the ACC(P＜0.05),which were mainly co-labeled with excitatory neuron marker VGLUT2 positive cells.Conclusion:SCI leads to abnormal pain behavior and cognitive dysfunction in mice,and it induces the activation of neurons in the ACC,with a predominant activation of excitatory neurons.This study provides morphological evidence for the involvement of excitatory neurons in the ACC in the comorbidity of NP and cognitive impairment following SCI.
