THE inflammatory component of peripheral nerve injury may affect the development of local
neuropathologic changes as well as the onset of hyperalgesia, the characteristic features of
experimental neuropathic pain states. The goal of this study was to determine whether local
sciatic injection of the proinflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-[alpha] could
reproduce the nociceptive behaviors and endoneurial pathology found following
experimental nerve injuries. TNF injection caused significant thermal hyperalgesia and …