Figure 7.

Effects of neurodynamic treatment on cell morphology, gene and protein expression on dorsal root ganglia (DRG) explants. Panel (A): Representative images of rat organotypic dorsal root ganglia neurons stained with βIII-tubulin reported for each type of experimental protocol. Scale bar: 400 µm. Panel (B): Quantitative analysis of the distance of the longest neurite (Dmax), the maximum number of neurites (Nmax), and the Sholl critical value, defined as the distance from the organotypic culture centre. Values in the graphics are expressed as mean ± SD. Panel (C): Gene expression analysis of markers linked to mechanical allodynia and neuropathic pain. Beneficial or side effects induced by the neurodynamic protocols on dorsal root ganglia explants were assessed adopting the relative quantification analysis (2^−ΔΔCt) of genes by qRT-PCR. Data normalization was performed considering TATA-box binding protein (TBP) as a housekeeping gene. All data were calibrated to CTR OUT sample). Panel (D): BAX and Bcl-xL protein expression in DRG explants. Protocols are described as follows: not treated (CTR IN), sham-treated (CTR OUT), and treated (NDT) with 30 repetitions of neurodynamic treatment. Experiments were carried out in a biological octuplicate (n = 21 for a technical replicate). Asterisks (*) in panel (D) identify unspecific bands. Values in the graphics are expressed as mean ± SD. For normally distributed data with comparable variances One-way ANOVA was carried out, while Kruskal–Wallis test was used for nonparametric data; asterisks show statistically significant differences with CTR OUT (sham sample); * p < 0.05, and ** p < 0.01.