In this study we aimed at investigating the effects of the CCI-IoN on mechanical allodynia and neurogenic inflammation in rats fed a standard diet, or a modified diet with a very low content of PUFAs. The main findings of this study are: 1, the mechanical allodynia in the trigeminal territory following CCI-IoN is more pronounced, and develops 1–2 weeks earlier when rats were deprived of PUFAs in the diet; 2, CAP-induced plasma extravasation in naive rats fed MD is nearly twice as large as in those fed RD; 3, eight days after CCI-IoN the extravasation in the operated side reaches similar levels in both diet groups; 4, the CCI also causes a contralateral rise of extravasation, but only in the RD group, bringing its levels to the same range of those in the MD group; and 5, consequently, the net effect of CCI-IoN on extravasation is a moderate reduction in the MD group, but a significant increase in the RD group, compared with basal levels (from naive and/or sham cases).
CCI-IoN and neurogenic inflammation
Nerve injury underlying different neuropathic conditions is known to reduce the flare response to topical application of substance P, histamine or capsaicin [
28,
29]. A related effect, consisting of reduction of vasodilatation and decreased plasma extravasation, has been reported in widely used models of neuropathy in the sciatic territory in rats, such as the CCI of the sciatic nerve [
9,
11] or the spinal nerve ligation [
30]. The axon reflex-dependent vasodilatation is normally mediated by antidromic activation of a subpopulation of Aδ and C fibers [
8,
10], but Aβ fibers activated from injured or irritated target tissues may also play a role, by centrally sensitizing C nociceptors [
31]. Plasma extravasation, however, depends not on Aδ fibers [
8], but on C fibers, because it is elicited by specific antidromic stimulation of polymodal C fibers [
32,
33], and is prevented by specifically blocking axoplasmic transport in C fibers with colchicine [
34].
We have shown that topical application of CAP to the vibrissal pad also elicits neurogenic extravasation, which is reduced ipsilaterally to a CCI-IoN. However, under standard dietetic conditions, the actual levels of plasma extravasation are increased
bilaterally after performing a unilateral constriction. This results in a net extravasation
increase in the constricted side, when compared with the same side in naive or sham groups. To our knowledge, similar intergroup comparisons are mostly lacking concerning extravasation after chronic constriction or partial nerve injury, not only in trigeminal fields, but also in the more commonly studied sciatic or saphenous territories. However, Yonehara and Yoshimura [
11] showed a significant net reduction in EB released by CAP application or nerve stimulation into the perfusate collected through a subcutaneous cannula, 7 days after sciatic CCI. This difference with our results may be due not only to a local damage created by the inserted cannula in that study, but also to a different degree of nerve damage between the sciatic and the trigeminal CCI models. Yonehara and Yoshimura [
11] used Bennett and Xie's [
7] four-ligature model of sciatic CCI, which is reported to determine a nearly complete loss of myelinated fibers and a substantial loss of unmyelinated axons, two weeks after ligation [
35]. A similar quantitative analysis is not yet available for the CCI-IoN model, which used two loose ligatures [
5], nor for our variant, which used a single ligature. Qualitative observations by Anderson et al. [
36] after a single ligature, however, suggested a relatively moderate fiber loss three weeks after CCI-IoN. In contrast, we have found that four relatively tight ligatures applied to the IoN resulted in a substantial fiber loss and a marked net reduction of EB extravasation, but also -as previously reported by others [
37] – a less pronounced and less consistent mechanical allodynia (unpublished findings).
Contralateral effects of nerve injury on extravasation
The appearance of contralateral effects after a unilateral nerve injury has been known for a number of years. They consist of a diversity of phenomena, from altered gene expression to a range of functional and anatomical changes in homotopical contralateral peripheral nerves, sensory ganglia or motoneurons [
38]. Acute contralateral neurogenic responses, such as tissue edema or plasma extravasation into the synovial space, have been described following the induction of unilateral inflammation [
39‐
41]. More recently, Kelly et al. [
42] showed that five days after unilateral induction of inflammation in the rat knee joint, EB extravasation in the contralateral knee joint was increased, and this increase was accompanied by an elevated rate of spontaneous activity in CAP-sensitive fibers of the saphenous nerve (just above the incorporation of the medial articular nerve). These observations are consistent with our finding of an increased EB extravasation in the vibrissal pad contralateral to the CCI-IoN. Although a conclusive explanation for the contralateral effects is yet to be obtained, it has been shown that a pharmacological blockade of C and Aδ nociceptive fibers and/or sympathetic fibers in the sciatic nerve blocks the sustained peripheral vasodilatation elicited by a contralateral sciatic CCI [
43], supporting the early claim that both neural components participate in what was called reflex neurogenic inflammation [
39]. The role of the sympathetic system for explaining the increase in peripheral extravasation after partial limb nerve lesion is debated [
30,
44], but it has been shown that SNL induces sympathetic fibers sprouting not only in the ipsilateral but also the contralateral DRG [
45‐
47]. Less likely, however, would be a similar role for the sympathetic innervation in the trigeminal territory after unilateral CCI-IoN, given the absence of sympathetic fiber sprouting in the trigeminal ganglion after nerve injury (IoN or inferior alveolar nerve constriction: [
24]). Moreover, the fraction of sympathetic fibers composing the trigeminal nerve is 2.5 times lower than in limb nerves [
48].
Effects of dietary PUFAs on nociceptive behavior and neurogenic inflammation
The use of corn or soy as sources of dietary fat has been associated to decreased expression of mechanical allodynia following partial sciatic nerve ligation (PSL, [
16‐
18]). Both types of fat contain similarly high levels of linoleic acid (58%), a short chain (18 carbons) PUFA of the ω-6 family with 2 double bonds, but different levels of α-linolenic acid (0.7% in corn, 6.8% in soy), a short chain PUFA of the ω-3 family with 3 double bonds [
19,
49]. All the above mentioned studies tested the rats for the presence of allodynia for up to 10–14 days after PSL. After CCI-IoN we confirmed that the long-term absence of PUFAs from the diet elicited a decrease in mechanoresponsive thresholds, and an overt mechanical allodynia 8 and 15 days postsurgery, as judged from comparisons with responses from the contralateral, undamaged side. At 15 days, rats fed RD also started to display allodynia, but with response thresholds still higher than rats fed MD. By 26 days postconstriction, however, the allodynia reached the same level irrespective of the diet used, suggesting that the "protective" effect of the PUFAs-rich diet would be temporary. In the absence of a more prolonged follow-up, it remains to be investigated whether the total duration of CCI-connected neuropathic symptoms is affected by dietary lipid content.
The removal of PUFAs from the diet also had a hitherto unreported effect on neurogenic inflammation, consisting of, 1, an increase of CAP-induced plasma extravasation in the vibrissal pads of uninjured animals, and 2, an ipsilateral reduction following CCI-IoN, while maintaining high levels of extravasation in the contralateral side. Although the mechanisms of this effect remain elusive, the relationships existing between dietary lipids and inflammation may shed some light on them. Dietary fatty acids, which have been used to treat different inflammatory conditions [
20,
22], have a complex influence on inflammatory responses, which is mainly exerted by modifying the production of inflammation-related eicosanoids and cytokines. The simplest types of unsaturated fatty acids of the ω-6 and ω-3 families cannot be synthesized in mammals, but once ingested, are desaturated further and elongated, giving rise to a series of long chain PUFAs, with different, and in some aspects opposite effects on inflammatory processes [
19,
50]. While the ω-6 PUFAs boost the production of potent proinflammatory eicosanoids (such as prostaglandins and leukotrienes) and cytokines (such as interleukins 1 and 6, and TNFα), ω-3 PUFAs antagonize inflammatory responses by altering the eicosanoid production through metabolic competition with the ω-6 PUFAs, by indirectly blocking the expression of proinflammatory genes such as NF-κB, or by generating antiinflammatory mediators, such as the recently described resolvins, docosatrienes and neuroprotectins [
50,
51].
Dietary ω-3 PUFAs also alleviate chronic pain by mechanisms other than their antiinflammatory effects, including inhibition of neuronal protein kinases and blocking of voltage-gated calcium channels involved in both inflammatory and NP processing, general reduction of the sympathetic tone, and, perhaps, improvement of pain-associated affective disorders and other psychiatric conditions through largely unexplained mechanisms [
20,
52‐
54]. Moreover, the absence of dietary α-linolenic acid may enhance the formation of lysophosphatidic acid [
55], which is considered a critical mediator in the development of NP, through direct actions on the primary sensory neurons [
56,
57], and by inducing demyelination and ephaptic cross-talk between fibers in dorsal roots and peripheral nerves [
58].
In contrast, because of their putative proinflammatory effects, the possible effects on pain control of dietary ω-6 PUFAs have been essentially neglected. However, a clear-cut opposite effect of dietary short chain PUFAs on pain is questionable. Firstly, in naive rats it was an appropriate ratio of ω-3:ω-6 fatty acids in diet (around 1:5), rather than the absolute amount of ω-3 intake, which was associated to an elevation of the withdrawal threshold to acute thermal noxious stimuli [
13,
21]. This is consistent with the fact that, because of the complex metabolic interaction between the ω-families of dietary fatty acids, their final outcome on the tissue fatty acid composition depends more on the ratios between their different classes than on their absolute amounts in the diet [
19]. Secondly, a significant positive correlation was recently reported between the total intake of α-linolenic acid (an ω-3 PUFA) and thermal hyperalgesia (but not mechanical allodynia) after a PSL [
49]. Moreover, the presence of both ω-3 and ω-6 PUFAs' families in the intake could help reduce the excitability of sodium channels involved in pain [
59], particularly in injured nerves [
60]. In our study, the lipid content of the olive oil used in MD to replace the fat present in RD had just one-eighth of linoleic acid (6.3% vs. 50%), and practically lacked α-linolenic acid (traces vs. 4.5%; [
61]), making olive oil a well-suited placebo in studies of the antiinflammatory effect of PUFAs [
62].