Introduction: Topical application of lidocaine-and-prilocaine (LP) cream attenuates the functionality of small cutaneous nerve fibers. The aim of this human study was to measure the underlying excitability modulation of small cutaneous nerve fibers using a novel and fast perception threshold tracking (PTT) technique.
Methods: Small sensory fibers were selectively blocked by 120-minute topical application of LP and confirmed by quantitative sensory testing. Excitability changes of small (activated by a specially designed pin electrode) and large (patch electrode) nerve fibers were assessed as the strength-duration relation and threshold electrotonus.
Results: The excitability assessed by the strength-duration relation and threshold electrotonus was significantly modulated for the small afferents (P < 0.05, Wilcoxon's test) but not the large afferents.
Discussion: This novel PTT technique was able to assess inhibition of membrane properties of small cutaneous fibers, suggesting the usefulness of the technique as a diagnostic method for assessing impairment of small fibers, as seen in many types of polyneuropathies.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/mus.26520 | DOI Listing |
J Clin Gastroenterol
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Department of Surgery, Oncology and Gastroenterology, University of Padua.
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Milwaukee Institute for Drug Discovery, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2000 E Kenwood Blvd, Milwaukee, WI, 53211, USA.
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Munich Cluster for Systems Neurology (SyNergy), Munich, Germany.
The major pathological feature of Parkinson 's disease (PD), the second most common neurodegenerative disease and most common movement disorder, is the predominant degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra, a part of the midbrain. Despite decades of research, the molecular mechanisms of the origin of the disease remain unknown. While the disease was initially viewed as a purely neuronal disorder, results from single-cell transcriptomics have suggested that oligodendrocytes may play an important role in the early stages of Parkinson's.
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