Abstract
The underlying mechanisms of itch are poorly understood. We have investigated a model involving the chemoattractant leukotriene B&sub4; (LTB&sub4;) that is up-regulated in common skin diseases. Intradermal injection of LTB4 (0.1 nmol/site) into female CD1 mice induced significant scratching movements (used as an itch index) compared with vehicle-injected (0.1% bovine serum albumin-saline) mice. Intraperitoneal transient receptor potential (TRP) channel antagonist treatment significantly inhibited itch as follows: TRP vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) antagonist SB366791 (0.5 mg/kg, by 97%) and the TRP ankyrin 1 (TRPA1) antagonists TCS 5861528 (10 mg/kg; 82%) and HC-030031 (100 mg/kg; 76%). Leukotriene B&sub4; receptor 2 antagonism by LY255283 (5 mg/kg i.p.; 62%) reduced itch. Neither TRPV1-knockout (TRPV1-KO) nor TRPA1-knockout (TRPA1-KO mice exhibited LTB&sub4;-induced itch compared with their wild-type counterparts. The reactive oxygen species scavengers N-acetylcysteine (NAC; 204 mg/kg i.p.; 86%) or superoxide dismutase (SOD; 10 mg/kg i.p.; 83%) also inhibited itch. LTB4-induced superoxide release was attenuated by TCS 5861528 (56%) and HC-030031 (66%), NAC (58%), SOD (50%), and LY255283 (59%) but not by the leukotriene B4 receptor 1 antagonist U-75302 (9 nmol/site) or SB366791. Itch, superoxide, and myeloperoxidase generation were inhibited by the leukocyte migration inhibitor fucoidan (10 mg/kg i.v.) by 80, 61, and 34%, respectively. Myeloperoxidase activity was also reduced by SB366791 (35%) and SOD (28%). TRPV1-KO mice showed impaired myeloperoxidase release, whereas TRPA1-KO mice exhibited diminished production of superoxide. This result provides novel evidence that TRPA1 and TRPV1 contribute to itch via distinct mechanisms.