Le Rôle des purines dans la modulation de la douleur au niveau spinal par la stimulation d'afférences non nociceptives

Stimulation of non-nociceptive primary afferents is widely used in clinical treatment of pain, but little is known about its mechanism of action. We present results of electrophysiological studies in vivo in animals suggesting that purines may be chemical mediators of the inhibition of nociceptive dorsal horn neurones in response to vibration applied to the skin. This purinergic inhibition may represent the neuronal basis of the analgesia observed in humans with vibration treaments which allows us to consider possible strategies to improve the efficacy of such treatments.