Table 2. Animal models of neuropathic paina.
| Model | Nature of injury | Extent of neural damage and lesion site | Behavioral phenotype | Clinical correlate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sciatic nerve transection (Wall et al. 1979) | Transection and ligation of sciatic nerve | ∼60% of DRG cells; mid nerve. | A | Nerve trauma, iatrogenic nerve injury |
| Partial sciatic nerve ligation (Seltzer et al. 1990) | Partial ligation of sciatic nerve | ∼30% of DRG cells; mid nerve; intact axons interacting with Schwann cells | MA, MH, TH, CA | Partial peripheral nerve injury |
| Spinal nerve ligation (Kim & Chung 1992) | Ligation of the L5 and L6 spinal nerves | ∼100% DRG cells; proximal nerve; intact axons interacting with Schwann cells | MA, MH, TH, CA | Proximal peripheral nerve damage, e.g., after disc prolaps |
| Spared nerve injury (Decosterd & Woolf 2000) | Ligation and transection of two of three distal sciatic nerve branches | ∼40% of DRG cells; distal nerve. | MA, MH, CA | Partial peripheral nerve damage |
| Chronic constriction injury (Bennett & Xie 1988) | Loose ligature of the sciatic nerve with chromic gut suture | Mainly myelinated axons, <30% of DRG cells; mid nerve; intact axons interacting with Schwann cells | MA, MH, TH, CA | Nerve entrapment, e.g., carpal tunnel syndrome |
| Sciatic inflammatory neuropathy (Chacur et al. 2001) | Perineural injection of immune activator (zymosan or CFA) | No axonal loss; secondary DRG cell damage; mid nerve | MA | Peripheral neuritis |
| Peripheral nerve demyelination (Wallace et al. 2003) | Immune- or toxin-mediated demyelination | Minimal axon loss; secondary DRG cell damage; mid nerve | MA, TH | Demyelination, e.g., diabetic neuropathies |
| Diabetic neuropathy (Sullivan et al. 2008) | Streptozotocin, diet, genetic models | Primarily distal axon loss; systemic injury of the PNS; intact axons interacting with Schwann cells | MA, THypo | Diabetic neuropathy |
| Viral neuropathy (Wallace et al. 2007) | Herpes simplex virus, varizella zoster virus, HIV (gp120) | Distal axon damage; DRG cell damage; distal nerve; intact axons interacting with Schwann cells | MA | Zoster-associated pain, postherpetic neuralgia HIV-associated neuropathy |
| Drug-induced neuropathy (Peltier & Russell 2002) | Vincristine, paclitaxel, cisplatin | Distal axon loss; DRG cell damage; systemic injury of the PNS; intact axons interacting with Schwann cells | MA | Polyneuropathy caused by tumor chemotherapy |
a
Abbreviations: A, autotomy; CA, cold allodynia; MA, mechanical allodynia; MH, mechanical hyperalgesia; TH, thermal (heat) hyperalgesia; THypo, thermal hypoalgesia