Activation of Meningeal Afferents Relevant to Trigeminal Headache Pain after Photothrombotic Stroke Lesion: A Pilot Study in Mice

Stroke can be followed by immediate severe headaches. As headaches are initiated by the activation of trigeminal meningeal afferents, we assessed changes in the activity of meningeal afferents in mice subjected to cortical photothrombosis. Cortical photothrombosis induced ipsilateral lesions of variable sizes that were associated with contralateral sensorimotor impairment. Nociceptive firing of mechanosensitive Piezo1 channels, activated by the agonist Yoda1, was increased in meningeal afferents in the ischemic hemispheres. These meningeal afferents also had a higher maximal spike frequency at baseline and during activation of the mechanosensitive Piezo1 channel by Yoda1. Moreover, in these meningeal afferents, nociceptive firing was active during the entire induction of transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) channels by capsaicin. No such activation was observed on the contralateral hemi-skulls of the same group of mice or in control mice. Our data suggest the involvement of mechanosensitive Piezo1 channels capable of maintaining high-frequency spiking activity and of nociceptive TRPV1 channels in trigeminal headache pain responses after experimental ischemic stroke in mice.