Figure 2.

Application of the irritant capsaicin to a hind paw increased hemorrhage after a lower thoracic contusion injury and this effect was blocked by a spinal transection. (A) Experimental design and timeline for experiment 2. (B) Application of capsaicin (Cap) to one hind paw did not induce a change in systolic blood pressure. (C) Capsaicin-treated rats exhibited a higher heart rate throughout the 3 h. (D) Only transected rats exhibited a significant rise in tail blood flow after capsaicin treatment. (E) Sham-operated rats that were treated with capsaicin exhibited greater absorbance at 420 nm for hemoglobin. Transection surgery blocked this effect. (F) Drabkin’s assay and western blot (G) showed similar results. Asterisks indicate statistical significance (*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, n = 8). An asterisk placed over a group indicates that the group differs from all the others. Error bars represent the standard error of the mean (SEM).