Sympathetic Activation of A-Delta Nociceptors

Abstract

Primary afferent units in the saphenous nerve of cats, functionally identified as A-delta myelinated nociceptors, were tested for their responses to stimulation of the sympathetic trunk. The units were subdivided functionally into A-mechano-heat receptors (AMHs), which respond to both noxious heat and pressure, and high-threshold mechanoreceptors (HTMs), which respond only to pressure.

No units of either subdivision were activated by sympathetic stimulation (SS) prior to noxious heating of their receptive fields. However, six of the seven AMH units with the highest mechanical thresholds (>5 g von Frey) were activated by SS alone (10 Hz) after they had been sensitized by noxious heating of their receptive fields. Sensitized AMH units with lower mechanical thresholds (<5 g) were generally not activated by SS alone (1 of 22 units), and their responses to warming of their receptive fields were not altered by SS. The excitatory sympathetic action on AMH units was abolished by α-but not β-andrenergic blockade in the two units tested. HTMs were unresponsive to SS even after repeated noxious heating of their receptive fields (15 units tested).

The results of this study indicate that relatively high rates of sympathetic efferent activity (10 Hz) can induce firing in a small population of AMH receptors in damaged skin, specifically those units with high mechanical thresholds. This sympathetically evoked activity might trigger or exacerbate pain associated with skin damage; however, functional conclusions are difficult to draw, because of the scarcity of such units and the fact that the responses in some were brief and of low firing rates.