Background
Many studies have recently highlighted the role of photobiomodulation (PBM) in neuropathic pain (NP) relief after spinal cord injury (SCI), suggesting that it may be an effective way to relieve NP after SCI. However, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. This study aimed to determine the potential mechanisms of PBM in NP relief after SCI.
Conclusions
Our results provide new insights into the mechanisms by which PBM alleviates NP after SCI. We demonstrated that PBM significantly inhibited the activation of microglia and astrocytes and decreased the expression level of CXCL10. These effects appear to be related to the NF-κB signaling pathway. Taken together, our study provides evidence that PBM could be a potentially effective therapy for NP after SCI, CXCL10 and NF-kB signaling pathways might be critical factors in pain relief mediated by PBM after SCI.
Methods
We performed systematic observations and investigated the mechanism of PBM intervention in NP in rats after SCI. Using transcriptome sequencing, we screened CXCL10 as a possible target molecule for PBM intervention and validated the
Results
Here, we demonstrated that PBM therapy led to an improvement in NP relative behaviors post-SCI, inhibited the activation of microglia and astrocytes, and decreased the expression level of CXCL10 in glial cells, which was accompanied by mediation of the NF-κB signaling pathway. Photobiomodulation inhibit the activation of the NF-κB pathway and reduce downstream CXCL10 expression. The NF-κB pathway inhibitor PDTC had the same effect as PBM on improving pain in animals with SCI, and the NF-κB pathway promoter PMA could reverse the beneficial effect of PBM. Conclusions: Our results provide new insights into the mechanisms by which PBM alleviates NP after SCI. We demonstrated that PBM significantly inhibited the activation of microglia and astrocytes and decreased the expression level of CXCL10. These effects appear to be related to the NF-κB signaling pathway. Taken together, our study provides evidence that PBM could be a potentially effective therapy for NP after SCI, CXCL10 and NF-kB signaling pathways might be critical factors in pain relief mediated by PBM after SCI.