Blast-induced brain injury in rats leads to transient vestibulomotor deficits and persistent orofacial pain

ABSTRACT

Blast-induced traumatic brain injury (blast-TBI) is associated with vestibulomotor dysfunction, persistent post-traumatic headaches and post-traumatic stress disorder, requiring extensive treatments and reducing quality-of-life. Treatment and prevention of these devastating outcomes require an understanding of their underlying pathophysiology through studies that take advantage of animal models. Here, we report that cranium-directed blast-TBI in rats results in signs of pain that last at least 8 weeks after injury. These occur without significantly elevated behavioural markers of anxiety-like conditions and are not associated with glial up-regulation in sensory thalamic nuclei. These injuries also produce transient vestibulomotor abnormalities that resolve within 3 weeks of injury. Thus, blast-TBI in rats recapitulates aspects of the human condition.

KEYWORDS:

• chronic pain
• trauma
• neurotrauma

Acknowledgments

This work was supported, in part, by a grant to JMS from the Veterans Administration (5I01BX001629). The supporting agency had no involvement in study design, data interpretation, writing, or submission of this manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs [5I01BX001629] and National Institutes of Health [5R01NS099245].