Skip to main content

Visceral Pain Model, Lower Gastrointestinal Tract Pain

  • Reference work entry
Encyclopedia of Pain
  • 69 Accesses

Synonyms

Lower gastrointestinal tract pain models

Definition

Animal models of lower gastrointestinal tract pain include graded colorectal distention, experimental colitis produced by intracolonic treatments (e.g., trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid) or ingestion of DSS (dextran sodium sulfate).

Characteristics

Methods

Distension of the Lower Gastrointestinal Tract

Distension of hollow organs has a long history in human medicine (e.g., see Ness and Gebhart 1990) and is rational because balloon distension reproduces the character and localization of pathological pain. Accordingly, graded colorectal distension (CRD) has been used to model in animals the study of lower gastrointestinal pain and hypersensitivity (Ness and Gebhart, 1987, 1988a, b; Traub et al. 1993; Al-Chaer et al. 1996, 1998). A device for controlling the pressure of intracolonic balloon distension in nonhuman animals has been described (Anderson et al. 1987). Humans report distinct sensations of pressure and of pain with...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 1,799.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 549.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Al-Chaer, E. D., Feng, Y., & Willis, W. D. (1998). A role for the dorsal column in nociceptive visceral input into the thalamus of primates. Journal of Neurophysiology, 79, 3143–3150.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Al-Chaer, E. D., Lawand, N. B., Westlund, K. N., et al. (1996). Visceral nociceptive input into the ventral posterolateral nucleus of the thalamus: A new function for the dorsal column pathway. Journal of Neurophysiology, 76, 2661–2674.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, R., Ness, T. J., & Gebhart, G. F. (1987). A distension control device useful for studies of hollow organ sensation. Physiology and Behavior, 41, 635–638.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Christianson, J. C., & Gebhart, G. F. (2007). Assessment of colon sensitivity by luminal distension in mice. Nature Protocols, 2, 2624–2631.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Coutinho, S. V., Meller, S. T., & Gebhart, G. F. (1996). Intracolonic zymosan produces visceral hyperalgesia in the rat that is mediated by spinal NMDA and non-NMDA receptors. Brain Research, 736, 7–15.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Honore, P., Kamp, E. H., Rogers, S. D., et al. (2002). Activation of lamina I spinal cord neurons that express the substance P receptor in visceral nociception and hyperalgesia. The Journal of Pain, 3, 3–11.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ness, T. J., & Gebhart, G. F. (1987). Characterization of neuronal responses to noxious visceral and somatic stimuli in the medial lumbosacral spinal cord of the rat. Journal of Neurophysiology, 57, 1867–1892.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ness, T. J., & Gebhart, G. F. (1988a). Colorectal distension as a noxious visceral stimulus: Physiologic and pharmacologic characterization of pseudoaffective reflexes in the rat. Brain Research, 450, 153–169.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ness, T. J., & Gebhart, G. F. (1988b). Characterization of neurons responsive to noxious colorectal distension in the T13-L2 spinal cord of the rat. Journal of Neurophysiology, 60, 1419–1438.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ness, T. J., & Gebhart, G. F. (1989). Characterization of superficial dorsal horn neurons encoding for colorectal distension in the rat: Comparison with neurons in deep laminae. Brain Research, 486, 301–309.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ness, T. J., & Gebhart, G. F. (1990). Visceral pain: A review of experimental studies. Pain, 41, 167–234.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ness, T.J., Randich, A. & Gebhart, G.F. (1991) Further evidence that colorectal distension is a noxious visceral stimulus in rats. Neuroscience Letters, 131, 113–116.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Palecek, J., Paleckova, V., & Willis, W. D. (2002). The roles of pathways in the spinal cord lateral and dorsal funiculi in signaling nociceptive somatic and visceral stimuli in rats. Pain, 96, 297–307.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Traub, R. J., Pechman, P., Iadarola, M. J., et al. (1993). Fos-like proteins in the lumbosacral spinal cord following noxious and non-noxious colorectal distention in the rat. Pain, 49, 393–403.

    Google Scholar 

  • Traub, R. J., Tang, B., Ji, Y., Pandya, S., Yfantis, H., & Sun, Y. (2008). A rat model of chronic postinflammatory visceral pain induced by deoxycholic acid. Gastroenterology, 135, 2075–2083.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gerald F. Gebhart .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this entry

Cite this entry

Gebhart, G.F. (2013). Visceral Pain Model, Lower Gastrointestinal Tract Pain. In: Gebhart, G.F., Schmidt, R.F. (eds) Encyclopedia of Pain. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-28753-4_4795

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics