Mechanical hyperalgesia in streptozotocin-diabetic rats

Recent evidence strongly suggests that the hyperalgesia induced by agents acting directly on the primary afferent is mediated by stimulatory G-proteins and the cAMP second messenger system. In this study, we used the Randall-Selitto paw-pressure device to study hyperalgesia that develops in the streptozotocin-diabetic rat. Subcutaneous injection of streptozotocin in male Sprague-Dawley rats induced hyperglycemia and glucosuria detectable within 24 h of injection. A decrease in mechanical nociceptive threshold in the hindpaw was detected after one week. Intradermal injection of indomethacin, a cyclooxygenase inhibitor, had no significant effect on nociceptive threshold; and prostaglandin E 2, which produces hyperalgesia by a direct action on the primary afferent, decreased nociceptive threshold similarly in streptozotocin-diabetic and control rats. Guanosine 5'-O-(2-thiodiphosphate), which blocks stimulatory G-proteins, attenuated the prostaglandin E 2-hyperalgesia in both streptozotocin-diabetic and control rats, but had no effect on baseline nociceptive threshold in either group. Intradermal injection of either 2',5'-dideoxyadenosine, an inhibitor of adenylate cyclase, or phosphodiesterase, which degrades cAMP, increased mechanical nociceptive threshold in streptozotocin-diabetic rats whilst not affecting mechanical nociceptive threshold in the control rats. Intradermal injection of 8-bromo cAMP, a membrane-permeable analog of cAMP, produced hyperalgesia of significantly greater magnitude in the streptozotocin-diabetic rats than the control rats. Intradermal injection of N 6-cyclopentyl adenosine, an A 1-type adenosine agonist, which can activate an inhibitory G-protein and decrease cAMP production, also increased nociceptive thresholds in streptozotocin-diabetic rats. This effect was blocked by pertussis toxin. These data suggest that alterations of second messengers, specifically of the cAMP second messenger system, in the peripheral terminals of primary afferents may, in part, explain diabetic hyperalgesia. Our findings are compatible with the suggestion that there may be an increased production of, and an increased sensitivity to, cAMP. While the apparent increase in cAMP does not result from activation of stimulatory G-proteins, it does appear to require adenylate cyclase activity.