Chronic Inflammatory Pain Alters Expression of Limbic MAPK Phosphatases.
Chronic pain & management January 1, 2024 Dakota Nerland, Allison Ash, Adam Garman et al. 1 citation
Chronic pain activates specific MKP/DUSP genes in limbic brain regions, which may contribute to the development of depression. Male rats exposed to 21 days of inflammatory pain showed increased MKP-1 expression in the hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, and anterior cingulate cortex. Female rats also showed increased hippocampal MKP-1, but MKP-1 decreased in the anterior cingulate cortex and did not change in the prefrontal cortex. Similar region-specific changes occurred for MKP-2 and MKP-3. Low-dose ketamine (10 mg/kg) blocked pain-induced upregulation of limbic MKP-1. The findings suggest dysregulation of these genes may underlie mood disorders associated with chronic pain.