Tactile allodynia can occur in the spared nerve injury model in the rat without selective loss of GABA or GABA(A) receptors from synapses in laminae I–II of the ipsilateral spinal dorsal horn

Although there is evidence that reduced inhibition in the spinal dorsal horn contributes to neuropathic pain, the mechanisms that underlie this are poorly understood. We have previously demonstrated that there is no loss of neurons from laminae I–III in the spared nerve injury (SNI) model [Polgár E, Hughes DI, Arham AZ, Todd AJ (2005) Loss of neurons from laminas I-III of the spinal dorsal horn is not required for development of tactile allodynia in the SNI model of neuropathic pain. J Neurosci 25:6658–6666]. In this study we investigated whether there was a difference between ipsilateral and contralateral sides in the levels of GABA, the vesicular GABA transporter (VGAT), or the β(3) subunit of the GABA(A) receptor at synapses in the medial part of the superficial dorsal horn in this model. Tissue from rats that had undergone SNI 4 weeks previously was examined with an electron microscopic immunogold method to reveal GABA, following pre-embedding detection of GABA(A) β(3) to allow identification of GABAergic terminals. Assessment of labeling for the GABA(A) β(3) subunit and VGAT was performed by using immunofluorescence and confocal microscopy. We found no difference in the intensity of immunolabeling for any of these markers on the two sides of the superficial dorsal horn. These results suggest that there is no significant loss of GABAergic boutons from the denervated area after SNI (which is consistent with the finding that neuronal death does not occur in this model) and that there is no depletion of GABA or GABA(A) receptors at GABAergic synapses within this region. An alternative explanation for disinhibition after nerve injury is that it results from reduced excitatory drive to GABAergic dorsal horn neurons following loss of primary afferent input to these cells.