2020 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Elucidation of the mechanism of chronic pain development focusing on prefrontal cortex function and its application to treatment

Research Project

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Project/Area Number	18K08821
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
Allocation Type	Multi-year Fund
Section	一般
Review Section	Basic Section 55050:Anesthesiology-related
Research Institution	Nagoya City University
Principal Investigator	SO MinHye 名古屋市立大学, 医薬学総合研究院(医学), 講師 (60381886)
Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha)	杉浦健之名古屋市立大学, 医薬学総合研究院(医学), 教授 (20295611) 大澤匡弘名古屋市立大学, 医薬学総合研究院(薬学), 准教授 (80369173) 祖父江和哉名古屋市立大学, 医薬学総合研究院(医学), 教授 (90264738)
Project Period (FY)	2018-04-01 – 2021-03-31
Keywords	慢性疼痛 / 前頭前皮質
Outline of Final Research Achievements	Brain circuits that influence emotions are involved in the development of chronic pain. The prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is part of the neural circuitry that generates emotion. In this study, we investigated KNT-129, a novel delta-opioid receptor agonist, as a compound that modulates the function of the mPFC. The insular cortex, a brain region that has a strong influence on emotion, has a stronger effect on the development of neuropathic pain than the mPFC. We also established a deep brain in vivo calcium imaging method to measure long-term cellular activity in the nucleus accumbens of mouse models of neuropathic pain. As a result, we were able to measure changes in the activity of cells in the nucleus accumbens.
Free Research Field	麻酔科学
Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements	情動に強い影響を与えている脳領域の島皮質の神経細胞の活性または抑制が、慢性疼痛の痛み閾値に影響を与えることが示唆され、痛みと情動のメカニズムの一端が明らかになった。また、脳深部の神経活動を生体内でカルシウムイメージングにより観察することに成功した前例は世界的にも少ないが、本研究では極微細蛍光内視鏡により脳深部のカルシウムイメージングに世界で初めて成功した。これは今後の研究で、特定領域内の細胞ネットワークでの慢性疼痛のメカニズムの解明に応用することが出来る。