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RESEARCH REPORT |
1 Department of Morphology, Stomatology and Physiology,
2 Department of Childhood Clinical, Social and Preventive Odontology, Dental School of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Avenida do Café s/n, CEP 14040-904, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil;
* corresponding author, mjrocha{at}forp.usp.br
| ABSTRACT |
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KEY WORDS: Fos antinociception peri-aqueductal gray dorsal raphe locus coeruleus
| INTRODUCTION |
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| MATERIALS & METHODS |
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Orthodontic Appliance
A fixed orthodontic appliance was constructed based on the model of King and Thiems (1979) and Engström et al.(1988). It consisted of a torsion spring made of 0.016-inch stainless steel, with each edge welded to 2 stainless steel rings (orthodontic bands) of 0.004 x 0.06 inch that were cut open in the middle so that they could be fixed to the right and left incisors (Fig. 1
). The appliance was activated (or not) with a force of 70 g before it was fitted with the torsion spring and adapted to the rats palate in such a way that the orthodontic band could be cemented to the incisor with zinc oxyphosphate.
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Analysis
The sections were analyzed by light microscopy, and labeled neurons were registered with the use of an image analysis system (Zeiss KS 300). For quantification, one brain section of each nucleus that contained the maximum number of labeled neurons was selected for unilateral counts for each rat. The sections were selected from similar rostro-caudal positions. Statistical analysis was performed by an unpaired Students test, with P < 0.05 indicating a significant difference. The anatomical description of brain regions follows that of Swanson (1996).
| RESULTS |
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This shows that ketamine/xylazine is a good anesthetic mixture in tooth movement experiments, because it had no marked effect on its own on c-fos expression in the nuclei cited above. Furthermore, sham rats that received the same anesthesia and were subject to all manipulations associated with appliance adjustment did not show Fos-IR neurons in the SpVi and SpVo, and only a few in the SpVc (0.2 ± 0.2, n = 5). Again, only a few Fos-IR neurons were seen in the LC (0.5 ± 0.2, n = 4), PB (1.2 ± 0.6, n = 5), PAG (0.8 ± 0.3, n =4), and DR (0.7 ± 0.4, n = 4). This demonstrates that appliance adjustment itself had no effect on c-fos expression.
In the experimental groups, however, the orthodontic appliance was able to promote c-fos expression in several nuclei, regardless of whether the appliance was activated or not. Since these nuclei exhibited almost identical Fos-IR labeling in both hemispheres, we chose the better-defined side for counting and photography. In none of the groups (experimental or controls) did we observe c-fos expression in the principal trigeminal and mesencephalic nuclei. In the SpVc, most of the immunoreactive neurons were localized in laminae I and II (Fig. 2
). They appeared clustered in the dorso-medial and ventro-medial margins of the nucleus, predominantly near the obex, and also in the transition zone to the SpVi. In the PAG, Fos-IR neurons were mainly localized in the ventro-lateral subdivision (Fig. 3
), even though some were also observed in the dorso-lateral region. In the PB, most of the labeled cells were observed in the outer portion of the external lateral subnucleus (Fig. 3
) and in the central lateral subnucleus, yet some c-fos expression was also noted in the dorso-lateral subnucleus.
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| DISCUSSION |
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The observation that neurons already expressed c-fos when the appliance was fixed but not activated indicates that it is not only an irritation of intra-oral structures by the spring located at the palate that may activate sensory neurons but, rather, that the simple adjustment of the orthodontic bands can already induce some tooth movement by a mechanical action of the orthodontic bands on periodontal ligaments. Accordingly, activation of the appliance with 70 g of force induced a further increase in the number of Fos-IR neurons in the spinal trigeminal caudalis and dorsal raphe.
The spinal trigeminal caudalis (SpVc) is one of the important relay nuclei for processing oro-facial sensory information, and previous studies have shown that experimental tooth movement can induce c-fos expression in this nucleus. The labeled neurons were mainly located in the superficial laminae (laminae I-II), in the dorso-medial and -ventral edges of the nucleus, predominantly near the obex, and also in the transitional zone to the interpolaris (Kato et al 1994; Yamashiro et al., 1998; Aihara et al., 1999; Fujiyoshi et al., 2000). Furthermore, pre-treatment with morphine significantly reduced the induction of c-fos in this layer, and naloxone reversed this effect (Aihara et al., 1999). These superficial laminae of the SpVc are known to contain nociceptive-specific neurons (Dawson et al., 1980; Hu and Sessle, 1984). Therefore, our findings suggest that experimental incisor tooth movement caused by the appliance evoked nociception that was increased when orthodontic force was applied.
Experimental molar tooth movement has been shown to induce c-fos expression in the lateral PB (Yamashiro et al., 1997; Hiroshima et al., 2001). This brainstem nucleus is innervated by layer I of SpVc (Jasmin et al., 1997) and is activated by trigeminal mediated sensations, particularly nociception (Bester et al., 1997). The reduction of this expression by morphine treatment which could be reversed by pre-treatment with naloxone suggests that this neuronal activation is, at least partly, due to noxious stimulation (Hiroshima et al., 2001). Moreover, since the PB is a relay area for the central autonomic/emotional control circuitry, it is possible that cardiovascular changes that may occur in response to tooth movement can also contribute to the c-fos expression that we observed in this nucleus. However, force application and consequent further increase in tooth movement were not able to increase PB c-fos expression, as they did in the SpVc and dorsal raphe (DR).
The descending pathways modulating pain are composed of several neural connections that form a circuitry (Millan, 2002). The DR is an important nucleus in pain modulation and participates in a central antinociception circuitry together with the PAG and LC (Li et al., 1993; Wang and Nakai, 1994; Stamford, 1995). This latter nucleus is a source of noradrenergic input to the SpVc (Fritschy and Grzanna, 1990; Simpson et al., 1997). Since the ventro-lateral part of the DR also projects to the SpVc and LC, its neurons could affect pain transmission in the caudalis directly, as well as indirectly via the LC pathway (Klatt et al., 1988; Li et al., 1993; TerHorst et al., 2001). The PAG can also send descending inhibitory fibers directly to the trigeminal sensory complex in the rat (Morgan et al., 1997). Some of these fibers have serotonin as mediator, and nociception induced by experimental tooth movement has recently been shown to activate the bulbospinal serotonergic pathway (Yamashiro et al., 2001).
So far, only two studies, in addition to ours, report findings on c-fos expression in the SpVi following experimental tooth movement. Yamashiro et al.(1997) reported finding a few labeled neurons following a 24-hour molar tooth movement experiment. In contrast, Kato et al.(1994) did not detect immunoreaction in this structure. This subnucleus, which is adjacent to the caudalis, receives a heavy input from pulpal afferents (Marfurt and Turner, 1984). It is possible that incisor tooth movement stimulated afferent dental pulp fibers, and this could account for the slightly elevated number of labeled neurons observed in our experiments.
We did not see any labeled neurons in the SpVo, neither in the mesencephalic nucleus nor in the principal trigeminal. This is in accordance with results from investigators using Waldos method (Kato et al., 1994; Aihara et al., 1999). Yet, c-fos expression was seen to be up-regulated in the SpVo only 12 hrs after the onset of experimental tooth movement, suggesting that a cumulative effect of primary nociceptor activation might be necessary for c-fos induction (Fujiyoshi et al., 2000).
In conclusion, our results suggest that sensory information derived from incisor tooth movement activates neurons related to antinociception, in addition to neurons already reported to be activated following molar tooth movement. Furthermore, we found an apparent recruitment of neurons in the trigeminal caudalis and dorsal raphe when tooth movement was increased.
| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
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Received March 19, 2003; Last revision September 25, 2003; Accepted September 29, 2003
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