Roles of capsaicin-insensitive nociceptors in cutaneous pain and secondary hyperalgesia.

Polymodal nociceptors respond to mechanical, thermal and chemical stimuli. Whereas sensitivities to heat and to the irritant substance capsaicin have recently been linked via the properties of the vanilloid receptor type 1 receptor ion channel, sensitivity to noxious mechanical stimuli such as the pinpricks used in clinical neurology seems to be unrelated. We investigated the peripheral neural basis of pinprick pain using quantitative psychophysical techniques combined with selective conduction block by nerve compression and selective desensitization by topical capsaicin treatment. Complete A-fibre block by compression of the superficial radial nerve (criterion: loss of first pain sensation…