Influence of environmental enrichment on pain sensitivity in animals and in its control: possible interference in the expression and activation of opioid receptors

• Grant number: 13/20795-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: September 01, 2014
• End date: June 30, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Pharmacology - General Pharmacology
• Agreement: Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES)
• Principal Investigator: Gisele Picolo
• Grantee: Louise Faggionato Kimura Vieira
• Host Institution: Instituto Butantan. Secretaria da Saúde (São Paulo - Estado). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Chronic pain is a serious public health problem, since many types of pain are still intractable. It has been found that environmental enrichment (EE) is able to change the perception to noxious stimuli as well as to enhance the analgesic response induced by opioids, suggesting a relationship between welfare and analgesia. Additionally, EE diminishes the levels of stress-related hormones (glucocorticoids), and the use of antagonists of glucocorticoid receptors (GRs) decreases chronic pain in an experimental model. Given these data, the aim of the project is to identify some of the mechanisms responsible for the interference of animal welfare in pain sensitivity of rats to different noxious stimuli, focusing on opioidergic analgesic pathway and the glucocorticoid system. Both groups of animals with or without environmental enrichment will be assessed for pain sensitivity in models of acute or chronic pain against mechanical and thermal nociceptive stimuli. From the results obtained, possible changes will be investigated both in expression (immunofluorescence) and activation (using conformation-specific antibodies sensitive to the activated state) of opioid receptors in different regions of the central and peripheral nervous system as well as the activity of GRs. Also, different levels of endogenous opioid agonists and glucocorticoids will be quantified by enzyme immunoassay kit (ELISA). The results of this study may contribute to the understanding of mechanisms involved in different painful conditions seen in the clinic and its relation to stress, aiding in the search for appropriate control of different painful conditions. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

KIMURA, LOUISE FAGGIONATO; SANT'ANNA, MORENA BRAZIL; ZAMBELLI, VANESSA OLZON; GIARDINI, ALINE CAROLINA; SILVA JARED, SIMONE GONCALVES; ANTONIAZZI, MARTA MARIA; DE MOURA MATTARAIA, VANIA GOMES; PAGANO, ROSANA LIMA; PICOLO, GISELE. Early exposure to environmental enrichment protects male rats against neuropathic pain development after nerve injury. Experimental Neurology, v. 332, OCT 2020. (13/07467-1, 08/57898-0, 13/20795-8)

KIMURA, LOUISE FAGGIONATO; DE MOURA MATTARAIA, VANIA GOMES; PICOLO, GISELE. Distinct environmental enrichment protocols reduce anxiety but differentially modulate pain sensitivity in rats. Behavioural Brain Research, v. 364, p. 442-446, MAY 17 2019. (11/17974-2, 13/20795-8, 08/57898-0)

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

VIEIRA, Louise Faggionato Kimura. Effects of environmental enrichment on peripheral neuropathy induced in rats.. 2018. Doctoral Thesis - Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas (ICB/SDI) São Paulo.