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Comparative Study
. 2007 Nov;51(5):674-80.
doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2559.2007.02851.x.

Epidermal transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 in idiopathic small nerve fibre disease, diabetic neuropathy and healthy human subjects

E P Wilder-Smith  1 , W-Y Ong, Y Guo, A W-L Chow
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Epidermal transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 in idiopathic small nerve fibre disease, diabetic neuropathy and healthy human subjects

E P Wilder-Smith et al. Histopathology. 2007 Nov.

Abstract

Aims: The transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) plays an important role in mediating pain and heat. In painful neuropathies, intraepidermal TRPV1 nerve fibre expression is low or absent, suggesting that pain generated is not directly related to sensory nerve fibres. Recent evidence suggests that keratinocytes may act as thermal receptors via TRPV1. The aim was to investigate epidermal TRPV1 expression in patients with neuropathic conditions associated with pain.

Methods and results: In a prospective study of distal small nerve fibre neuropathy (DISN; n = 13) and diabetic neuropathy (DN; n = 12) intraepidermal nerve fibre density was assessed using the pan axonal marker PGP 9.5 and epidermal TPVR1 immunoreactivity compared with controls (n = 9). Intraepidermal nerve fibres failed to show TRPV1 immunoreactivity across all groups. There was moderate and strong TRPV1 reactivity of epidermal keratinocytes in 41.8% and 6% for DISN, 32.9% and 2.9% for DN and 25.4% and 5.1% for controls, respectively. Moderate keratinocyte TRPV1 expression was significantly increased in DISN compared with controls (P = 0.01).

Conclusion: Our study suggests that in human painful neuropathies, epidermal TRPV1 expression is mainly in keratinocytes.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
A, standard skin transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) immunoreactivity in a patient with distal idiopathic small nerve fibre disease. B, the same image converted to black and white with eight levels of monochrome grey tones. C, the same image further converted into colour coding: green represents the most intense immunoreactivity, yellow moderate reactivity and red immunonegativity. (TRPV1 peroxidase stain.)
Figure 2
Figure 2
Maximal transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) immunoreactivity is seen in the keratinocytes of the suprabasal layer of the epidermis. The parentheses indicate the suprabasal region. Note the lack of nuclear TRPV1 staining. (TRPV1 peroxidase stain.)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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