TY - JOUR AB - Chronic postsurgical pain (CPSP) has a high incidence, but the underlying mechanism is not well understood. Accumulating evidence has suggested that central sensitization is the main mechanism of pain. To study the role of p120 in CPSP, a skin/muscle incision and retraction (SMIR) model was established, and immunofluorescence staining and western blotting were performed to analyze the expression of p120 in the spinal cord and dorsal root ganglion (DRG). The results demonstrated that SMIR increased the expression of p120 in the DRG and the spinal cord compared with the naive group. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that p120 was mainly distributed in the glial fibrillary acidic protein‑positive astrocytes in the spinal cord, and in the neurofilament 200‑positive medium and large neurons in the DRG. Our previous studies have shown that adenosine triphosphate‑sensitive potassium channel (KATP) agonists can reduce postoperative pain in rats. Therefore, the changes in p120 were observed in the DRG and spinal cord of rats following the intraperitoneal injection of nicorandil, a KATP agonist. It was demonstrated that nicorandil administration could relieve mechanical pain experienced following SMIR in rats, and decrease the expression of p120 in the DRG and spinal cord. The results revealed that p120 may contribute to the prophylactic analgesic effect of nicorandil, thus providing a novel insight into the mechanism of CPSP prevention. AD - Department of Anesthesiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215000, P.R. China Department of Anesthesiology, Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Nantong, Jiangsu 226001, P.R. China AU - Huang,Sai‑Sai AU - Cao,Su AU - Lu,Cui ,E. AU - Qin,Yi‑Bin AU - Yang,Jian‑Ping DA - 2020/12/01 DO - 10.3892/mmr.2020.11546 EP - 4827 IS - 6 JO - Mol Med Rep KW - nicorandil p120 chronic postsurgical pain dorsal root ganglion spinal cord PY - 2020 SN - 1791-2997 1791-3004 SP - 4821 ST - Effects of nicorandil on p120 expression in the spinal cord and dorsal root ganglion of rats with chronic postsurgical pain T2 - Molecular Medicine Reports TI - Effects of nicorandil on p120 expression in the spinal cord and dorsal root ganglion of rats with chronic postsurgical pain UR - https://doi.org/10.3892/mmr.2020.11546 VL - 22 ER -