Sensitization in Animal Models of Radiculopathic Pain

摘要

Most people will suffer at least one episode of low back pain during their life (Frymoyer 1992). Several types of pain originate in the low back, all with varying and often enigmatic etiology. One common cause is disk herniation, often characterized by symptoms of radiating pain in one or both legs, with or without low back pain. Commonly termed sciatica, or radiculopathy because of its origin at the nerve root, this pathology has been the subject of intense study and debate in recent decades. Compression of the nerve root or dorsal root ganglion (DRG) by the herniated nucleus pulposus has been suggested as the cause of sensory abnormality. An inflammatory component also has been proposed (Lindahl 1966). Studies have used several animal models to investigate the diseased disk as a source of mechanically or chemically mediated sensory pathology. The possibility of a local diskogenic autoimmune attack has been another focus of study.