Injury & Pain – Chemotherapy-induced neuropathic pain
Paclitaxel (Taxol®) is a widely-used and efficacious cancer treatment. However, it has also been shown to cause peripheral neuropathy, a serious adverse side-effect in humans. Paclitaxel-induced pain can persist for months, even years, following cessation of treatment. Unfortunately, there are no treatments proven to prevent or treat paclitaxel-induced neuropathic pain. In rodents, systemic paclitaxel injections cause neuropathic pain behavior that is manifested as increased mechanical hypersensitivity and can be attenuated by gabapentin treatment.
Rats received a total of 4 injections of paclitaxel (2 mg/kg, i.p., every other day) and mechanical allodynia was assessed one week following the first injection using Von Frey filaments. Peripheral neuropathy was discernible beginning on Day 12 post initial paclitaxel injection. Acute and chronic oral administration of Gabapentin (100 mg/kg) reversed mechanical hyperalgesia in paclitaxel-treated rats.
