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. 2007 Nov 22;586(Pt 2):515–527. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.2007.145581

Figure 1. Increased AMPAR/NMDAR ratio of nociceptive synapses in lamina I of the superficial dorsal horn during chronic peripheral inflammation.

Figure 1

A, immunohistochemical detection of NK1R expression in a large lamina I neuron filled with biocytin during recording; the dorsal surface is at the top of figure. B, averaged traces of synaptic currents recorded at +26 mV from NK1R+ neurons in response to primary afferent stimulation normalized to the AMPAR component (black trace), illustrating the difference between control and inflamed animals in the relative proportion of the NMDAR-mediated component of the synaptic EPSC (grey trace). C, histogram showing the increase in the AMPAR/NMDAR ratio in inflamed animals, which was evident in all lamina I neurons recorded as well as the specific population of neurons identified as NK1R+. Data are presented as mean ± s.e.m.D, scatter dot plot illustrating the spread in AMPAR/NMDAR ratios in the two experimental groups, where a marked shift towards a higher AMPAR/NMDAR ratio of the total population is observed in the inflamed group. Horizontal bars and error bars indicate the mean ± s.e.m. for each condition. Scale bars in B correspond to 25 ms and 0.5 nA. **P < 0.01.