Intraplantar Injection of Monosodium Iodoacetate Produces Hyperalgesia in Rats and the Mechanism Underlying the Effect

Objective: To observe the effect of intraplantar injection of monosodium iodoacetate (MIA) on pain perception in rats and to investigate the role of transient receptor potential vanilloid type 1 (TRPV1) in the effect. Methods: Adult male Wistar rats were used in the experiment. 1) MIA was injected subcutaneously into the right hindpaw of rats, the low, medium, and high doses of MIA were 0.11, 0.33, and 1 mg, respectively, then the changes of paw withdrawal thermal latency, paw withdrawal mechanical threshold, and dynamic weight bearing within 4 hours after MIA injection were measured. 2) Capsazepine (TRPV1 antagonist, 30 μg) was injected subcutaneously into the right hindpaw of rats at 2 hours after intraplantar injection of MIA (1 mg), then the changes of paw withdrawal thermal latency, paw withdrawal mechanical threshold, and dynamic weight bearing within 1 hour after capsazepine injection were measured. Results: 1) The paw withdrawal thermal latency, paw withdrawal mechanical threshold, and dynamic weight bearing decreased after intraplantar injection of MIA in rats and the effect lasted for at least 4 hours. 2) The MIA-induced reduction in paw withdrawal thermal latency, paw withdrawal mechanical threshold, and dynamic weight bearing were significantly alleviated after intraplantar injection of capsazepine in rats. Conclusion: Intraplantar injection of MIA can produce thermal pain, mechanical pain, and spontaneous pain for more than 4 hours, which may be due to the TRPV1 activation caused by MIA.