Figure 4

TRPA1-KO or blockage alleviates malathion-induced nociception and nerve injury in mice. (a) Schematic diagram of the mouse tests. AITC (10 μl, 5%) or malathion (10 μl, 30%) were given by intraplantar route, followed by behavioral test and TEM imaging. (b) Time course of licking in mice treated with 5% AITC (red triangles, n=10). Mice that were pretreated with HC030031 (HC, 200 mg kg⁻¹, per oral, blue triangles, n=9) licked for significantly shorter periods than AITC-treated mice. (c) Quantification of the AITC response binned into different phases. Phase I (0–10 min); Phase II (10–60 min). (d) As in (b) but also including a malathion (Mala)-treated Trpa1^−/− group, n=8–10 per group. (e) Quantification of the malathion response during the different phases for the experimental groups. (f–j) Ultrastructural image of local nerve fibers from WT mice in the vehicle (f), 5% AITC (g), 30% malathion (h), malathion pretreated with HC030031 (i) and Trpa1^−/− mice treated with 30% malathion (j). For the panel h, two types of malathion-induced neuropathies were displayed, that is, loss of the myelin sheath (left) and avulsion (right). Scale bar is 0.5 μm for the vehicle, AITC and malathion groups and 1 μm for the malathion+HC and malathion (Trpa1^−/−) groups. The data represent the mean±s.e.m. ***P<0.001.