Recently, oxytocin (OT) has been studied as a potential modulator of endogenous analgesia by acting upon pain circuits at the spinal cord and supraspinal levels. Yet the detailed action mechanisms of OT are still undetermined. The present study aimed to evaluate the action of OT in the spinal cord dorsal horn network under nociceptive-like conditions induced by the activation of the N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor and formalin injection, using calcium imaging techniques. Results demonstrate that the spontaneous Ca²⁺-dependent activity of the dorsal horn cells was scarce, and the coactivity of cells was mainly absent. When NMDA was applied, high rates of activity and coactivity occurred in the dorsal horn cells; these rates of high activity mimicked the activity dynamics evoked by a neuropathic pain condition. In addition, although OT treatment increased activity rates, it was also capable of disrupting the conformation of coordinated activity previously consolidated by NMDA treatment, without showing any effect by itself. Altogether, our results suggest that OT globally prevents the formation of coordinated patterns previously generated by nociceptive-like conditions on dorsal horn cells by NMDA application, which supports previous evidence showing that OT represents a potential therapeutic alternative for the treatment of chronic neuropathic pain.

最近，催产素 (OT) 已被研究作为内源性镇痛的潜在调节剂，通过作用于脊髓和脊髓上水平的疼痛回路。然而，OT的详细作用机制仍未确定。本研究旨在下评估OT的脊髓背角网络中的动作伤害性状由所述的活化诱导的条件Ñ甲基d天冬氨酸（NMDA）受体和福尔马林注射，使用钙成像技术。结果表明自发的 Ca ²⁺背角细胞的依赖活性很少，主要缺乏细胞的协同活性。当应用 NMDA 时，背角细胞发生高活性和共活性；这些高活动率模拟了由神经性疼痛状况引起的活动动态。此外，虽然 OT 处理提高了活动率，但它也能够破坏先前由 NMDA 处理巩固的协调活动的构象，而其本身没有显示任何影响。总而言之，我们的结果表明，OT 在全球范围内阻止了先前通过 NMDA 应用在背角细胞上由伤害性样条件产生的协调模式的形成，这支持了先前的证据，表明 OT 是治疗慢性神经性疼痛的潜在治疗选择。