Molecular medicine reports
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In the present study, we investigated the antinociceptive effect of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) amplicon vector-mediated human proenkephalin (hPPE) on chronic constriction injury (CCI)-induced neuropathic pain in rats. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were intrathecally administered normal saline (NS), pHSVIRES-lacZ (SHZ) or recombinant HSV-1 amplicon vector pHSVIRES-hPPE-lacZ (SHPZ), respectively. Once a week for 5 weeks after the intrathecal (i.t.) administration, the expression levels of hPPE mRNA and leu‑enkephalin (L-EK) were determined. ⋯ The antinociceptive effect of SHPZ reached its peak 3 weeks after i.t. administration and was maintained for 5 weeks. In the rats administered vehicle or SHZ, there were no significant differences between the PWMT or PWTL and the thresholds before i.t. administration. These results indicate that a single i.t. administration of HSV-1 amplicon vector-mediated hPPE attenuated CCI-induced hypersensitivity in rats.