Papers of the Week

Insulin centrally activates the sympathetic nervous system. However, little is known about the effects of insulin on peripheral primary sensory neurons. Transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1), of which capsaicin (CAP) is an agonist, is widely expressed in small dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons subserving skeletal muscle thin-fiber afferents expressing sensory nociceptors and/or metabolically sensitive skeletal muscle receptors. Evidence suggests that insulin increases the sensitivity of these sensory receptors as well as translocation of TRPV1 from cytosol to plasma membrane in DRG neurons. We therefore hypothesized that insulin potentiates the responsiveness of thin fiber muscle afferents to TRPV1 activation.