Regional Differences Within the Anterior Cingulate Cortex in the Generation Versus Suppression of Pain Affect in Rats

Berberine alleviates chronic pain-induced anxiety-like behaviors by inhibiting the activation of VLT-projecting cACC (Cg2) neurons

Chronic pain is often accompanied by anxiety, and gradually increasing anxiety makes the pain itself more protracted. Berberine has been found to be able to cross the blood-brain barrier to treat psychiatric disorders, but its neurocirculatory mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we found that neurons in cingulate area 2 (Cg2) of the caudal anterior cingulate cortex (cACC), but not in Cg1 of the cACC, projected to the ventral lateral thalamus (VLT). Next, we induced chronic inflammatory pain by plantar injection of complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) and observed stable anxiety-like behaviors until two weeks postinjection. We specifically activated VLT-projecting cACC (Cg2) neurons in one-week-old CFA-induced mice without anxiety-like behaviors and in normal control mice to induce anxiety-like behaviors. We inhibited the activation of VLT-projecting cACC (Cg2) neurons in two-week-old CFA-treated mice with anxiety-like behaviors and observed that their anxiety-like behaviors were alleviated. On this basis, we further screened the effective dose of berberine for anxiolysis in two-week-old CFA-treated mice. We observed that the effective dose of berberine obtained above decreased the activity of VLT-projecting cACC (Cg2) neurons. The activation of VLT-projecting cACC (Cg2) neurons abrogated the anxiolytic effect of berberine in two-week-old CFA-treated mice.

Spatiotemporal dynamics of brain function during the natural course in a dental pulp injury model

Purpose

Toothache, a common disorder afflicting most people, shows distinct features at different clinical stages. This study aimed to depict metabolic changes in brain and investigate the potential mechanism involved in the aberrant affective behaviors during the natural process of toothache.

Methods

We investigated the spatiotemporal patterns of brain function during the natural course of toothache in a rat model of dental pulp injury (DPI) by using positron emission tomography (PET).

Results

Glucose metabolism peaked on the 3rd day and gradually decreased in several brain regions after DPI, which was in line with the behavioral and histological results. PET imaging showed that visual pathway was involved in the regulation of toothache. Meanwhile, the process of emotional regulation underlying toothache was mediated by N-methyl-D-aspartic receptor subunit 2B (NR2B) in the caudal anterior cingulate cortex (cACC).

Conclusion

Our results revealed the spatiotemporal neurofunctional patterns during toothache process and preliminarily elucidated the role of NR2B in cACC in the regulation of toothache-related affective behaviors.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00259-022-05764-2.

Brain circuits for pain and its treatment

[Figure: see text].

The Role of Mesostriatal Dopamine System and Corticostriatal Glutamatergic Transmission in Chronic Pain

There is increasing recognition of the involvement of the nigrostriatal and mesolimbic dopamine systems in the modulation of chronic pain. The first part of the present article reviews the evidence indicating that dopamine exerts analgesic effects during persistent pain by stimulating the D2 receptors in the dorsal striatum and nucleus accumbens (NAc). Thereby, dopamine inhibits striatal output via the D2 receptor-expressing medium spiny neurons (D2-MSN). Dopaminergic neurotransmission in the mesostriatal pathways is hampered in chronic pain states and this alteration maintains and exacerbates pain. The second part of this article focuses on the glutamatergic inputs from the medial prefrontal cortex to the NAc, their activity changes in chronic pain, and their role in pain modulation. Finally, interactions between dopaminergic and glutamatergic inputs to the D2-MSN are considered in the context of persistent pain. Studies using novel techniques indicate that pain is regulated oppositely by two independent dopaminergic circuits linking separate parts of the ventral tegmental area and of the NAc, which also interact with distinct regions of the medial prefrontal cortex.

Ethanol modulation of cortico-basolateral amygdala circuits: Neurophysiology and behavior

This review highlights literature relating the anatomy, physiology, and behavioral contributions by projections between rodent prefrontal cortical areas and the basolateral amygdala. These projections are robustly modulated by both environmental experience and exposure to drugs of abuse including ethanol. Recent literature relating optogenetic and chemogenetic dissection of these circuits within behavior both compliments and occasionally challenges roles defined by more traditional pharmacological or lesion-based approaches. In particular, cortico-amygdala circuits help control both aversive and reward-seeking. Exposure to pathology-producing environments or abused drugs dysregulates the relative 'balance' of these outcomes. Modern circuit-based approaches have also shown that overlapping populations of neurons within a given brain region frequently govern both aversion and reward-seeking. In addition, these circuits often dramatically influence 'local' cortical or basolateral amygdala excitatory or inhibitory circuits. Our understanding of these neurobiological processes, particularly in relation to ethanol research, has just begun and represents a significant opportunity.

Transcranial direct current stimulation relieves visceral hypersensitivity via normalizing GluN2B expression and neural activity in anterior cingulate cortex

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is one of the most common challenging diseases for clinical treatment. The aim of this study is to investigate whether transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has analgesic effect on visceral hypersensitivity (VH) in an animal model of IBS as well as the underlying mechanism. As the activation of GluN2B in anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) takes part in VH, we examined whether and how GluN2B in ACC takes part in the effect of tDCS. Neonatal maternal deprivation (NMD), a valuable experimental model to study the IBS pathophysiology, was used to induce visceral hypersensitivity of rats. We quantified VH as colorectal distention threshold and performed patch-clamp recordings of ACC neurons. The expression of GluN2B were determined by RT-qPCR and Western blotting. The GluN2B antagonist Ro 25-6981 was microinjected into the rostral and caudal ACC. tDCS was performed for 7 consecutive days. It was found that NMD decreased expression of GluN2B, which could be obviously reversed by tDCS. Injection of Ro 25-6981 into rostral and caudal ACC of normal rats induced VH and also reversed the analgesic effect of tDCS. Our data sheds light on the nonpharmacological therapy for chronic VH in pathological states such as IBS.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a gastrointestinal disease characterized by visceral hypersensitivity. This study showed a decrease of GluN2B expression and neural activity in ACC of IBS-model rats, which could be obviously reversed by tDCS. In addition, blockade of GluN2B in rostral and caudal ACC induced VH of normal rats. Furthermore, analgesic effect of tDCS on NMD rats was reversed by GluN2B antagonist.

Group II metabotropic glutamate receptor expressing neurons in anterior cingulate cortex become sensitized after inflammatory and neuropathic pain

The anterior cingulate cortex is a limbic region associated with the emotional processing of pain. How neuropathic and inflammatory pain models alter the neurophysiology of specific subsets of neurons in the anterior cingulate cortex remains incompletely understood. Here, we used a GRM2^Cre:tdtomato reporter mouse line to identify a population of pyramidal neurons selectively localized to layer II/III of the murine anterior cingulate cortex. GRM2encodes the group II metabotropic glutamate receptor subtype 2 which possesses analgesic properties in mouse and human models, although its function in the anterior cingulate cortex is not known. The majority of GRM2-tdtomato anterior cingulate cortex neurons expressed GRM2gene product in situ but did not overlap with cortical markers of local inhibitory interneurons, parvalbumin or somatostatin. Physiological properties of GRM2-tdtomato anterior cingulate cortex neurons were investigated using whole-cell patch clamp techniques in slice from animals with neuropathic or inflammatory pain, and controls. After hind-paw injection of Complete Freund’s Adjuvant or chronic constriction injury, GRM2-tdtomato anterior cingulate cortex neurons exhibited enhanced excitability as measured by an increase in the number of evoked action potentials and a decreased rheobase. This hyperexcitability was reversed pharmacologically by bath application of the metabotropic glutamate receptor subtype 2 agonist (2R, 4R)-4-Aminopyrrolidine-2,4-dicarboxylate APDC (1 µM) in both inflammatory and neuropathic models. We conclude that layer II/III pyramidal GRM2-tdtomato anterior cingulate cortex neurons express functional group II metabotropic glutamate receptors and undergo changes to membrane biophysical properties under conditions of inflammatory and neuropathic pain.