NMDA Receptor Agonism and Antagonism within the Amygdaloid Central Nucleus Suppresses Pain Affect: Differential Contribution of the Ventrolateral Periaqueductal Gray

摘要

The amygdala contributes to the generation of pain affect and the amygdaloid central nucleus (CeA) receives nociceptive input that is mediated by glutamatergic neurotransmission. The present study compared the contribution of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor agonism and antagonism in CeA to generation of the affective response of rats to an acute noxious stimulus. Vocalizations that occur following a brief tail shock (vocalization afterdischarges) are a validated rodent model of pain affect, and were preferentially suppressed, in a dose dependent manner, by bilateral injection into CeA of NMDA (.1 µg, .25 µg, .5 µg, or 1 µg/side), or the NMDA receptor antagonist D-2-amino-5-phosphonovalerate (AP5, 1 µg, 2 µg, or 4 µg/side). Vocalizations that occur during tail shock were suppressed to a lesser degree, whereas, spinal motor reflexes (tail flick and hind limb movements) were unaffected by injection of NMDA or AP5 into CeA. Injection of NMDA, but not AP5, into CeA increased c-Fos immunoreactivity in the ventrolateral periaqueductal gray (vlPAG), and unilateral injection of the µ-opiate receptor antagonist H-D-Phe-Cys-Tyr-D-Trp-Arg-Thr-Pen-Thr-NH2 (CTAP, 0.25 µg) into vlPAG prevented the antinociception generated by injection of NMDA into CeA. These findings demonstrate that although NMDA receptor agonism and antagonism in CeA produce similar suppression of pain behaviors they do so via different neurobiological mechanisms.PerspectiveThe amygdala contributes to production of the emotional dimension of pain. NMDA receptor agonism and antagonism within the central nucleus of the amygdala suppressed rats’ emotional response to acute painful stimulation. Understanding the neurobiology underlying emotional responses to pain will provide insights into new treatments for pain and its associated affective disorders.