The Journal of Neurophysiology Vol. 80 No. 6 December 1998, pp. 2801-2810
Copyright ©1998 The American Physiological Society

Flare and Hyperalgesia After Intradermal Capsaicin Injection in Human Skin

Jordi Serra, Mario Campero, and José Ochoa

Departments of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Good Samaritan Hospital and Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland, Oregon 97210

Serra, Jordi, Mario Campero, and José Ochoa. Flare and hyperalgesia after intradermal capsaicin injection in human skin. J. Neurophysiol. 80: 2801-2810, 1998. We investigated the neurovascular mechanisms that determine the flare response to intradermal capsaicin injection in humans and delineated the associated areas of mechanical and heat hyperalgesia. The flare response was monitored both visually and with infrared telethermography. The areas of mechanical and heat hyperalgesia were determined psychophysically. Thermography detected very large areas of flare. As an early event underlying the flare and before onset of the area of rubor of the skin, thermography detected the appearance of multifocal spots of increased temperature caused by dilatation of cutaneous arterioles. Repetition of capsaicin injection days apart into the same forearm induced multifocal spots of temperature elevation identical to the ones obtained in the first session, indicating dilatation of the same arterioles. Reactive hyperemia also consisted in the appearance of multifocal spots of increased temperature, which were identical to the ones reacting during the flare response, suggesting participation of the same arterioles in both events. Strips of local anesthetic placed to block cutaneous nerves prevented the spread of both the thermographic flare and associated hyperalgesia. It is inferred that the cutaneous nerve fibers responsible for the thermographic flare branch, or have coupled axons, over a long distance. The large area of flare coincided with the area of mechanical and heat hyperalgesia. Equivalence of the areas of flare and mechanical and heat hyperalgesia induced by intradermal capsaicin injection suggests that all three phenomena are the consequence of neural factors that operate peripherally.

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