Fig. 1

CPSP rats exhibited mechanical allodynia and glial cell activation. a The experimental timeline of surgical procedure, pain behavior tests, Western blot, immunostaining, and EM observation. b The schematic illustration of the stereotaxic intrathalamus microinjection of IV collagenase for the CPSP model. c CPSP rats exhibit a significant decrease in the PWMT in both ipsilateral and contralateral hind paws throughout 4 weeks after lesion compared with the sham control at each time point (n = 14 per group), two-way ANOVA, followed by Bonferroni tests, ^☆P < 0.0001 versus the sham control. d Representative images of immunofluorescence staining with GFAP and IBA1 along the thalamic lesion site of CPSP rats (n = 4 rats per group). e Quantification of the mean fluorescent intensity and number of GFAP⁺ and IBA1⁺ cells along the perilesion site of CPSP rats. (n = 4 rats per group, *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001, ****P < 0.0001, compared with the sham group. Scale bar = 500 μm). Changes in the morphology and number of microglia and astrocytes along the lesion site indicate activation of neuroinflammation under CPSP conditions. WB, western blotting; IF, immunofluorescence; EM, electron microscopic; BL, baseline