The NA(v)1.7 blocker protoxin II reduces burn injury-induced spinal nociceptive processing

ABSTRACT: Controlling pain in burn-injured patients poses a major clinical challenge. Recent findings suggest that reducing the activity of the voltage-gated sodium channel Na(v)1.7 in primary sensory neurons could provide improved pain control in burn-injured patients. Here, we report that partial thickness scalding-type burn injury on the rat paw upregulates Na(v)1.7 expression in primary sensory neurons 3 h following injury. The injury also induces upregulation in phosphorylated cyclic adenosine monophosphate response element-binding protein (p-CREB), a marker for nociceptive activation in primary sensory neurons. The upregulation in p-CREB occurs mainly in Na(v)1.7-immunopositive neurons and exhibits a peak at 5 min and, following a decline at 30 min, a gradual increase from 1 h post-injury. The Na(v)1.7 blocker protoxin II (ProTxII) or morphine injected intraperitoneally 15 min before or after the injury significantly reduces burn injury-induced spinal upregulation in phosphorylated serine 10 in histone H3 and phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2, which are both markers for spinal nociceptive processing. Further, ProTxII significantly reduces the frequency of spontaneous excitatory post-synaptic currents in spinal dorsal horn neurons following burn injury. Together, these findings indicate that using Na(v)1.7 blockers should be considered to control pain in burn injury. KEY MESSAGES: • Burn injury upregulates Na(v)1.7 expression in primary sensory neurons. • Burn injury results in increased activity of Na(v)1.7-expressing primary sensory neurons. • Inhibiting Na(v)1.7 by protoxin II reduces spinal nociceptive processing. • Na(v)1.7 represents a potential target to reduce pain in burn injury. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s00109-017-1599-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.