Overexpression of MicroRNA-182-5p Alleviates Pain in Rats with Lumbar Disc Herniation

Inflammatory factor stimulation secondary to lumbar disc herniation (LDH) is considered to be the main cause of lumbar back and lower extremity pain in patients with LDH. In the meanwhile, microRNAs have been reported to be effective in inhibiting the expression of several inflammatory factors. In the current study, we used rat LDH model to explore the feasibility of MSCs overexpressing microRNA-182-5p as a treatment option for LDH. Changes of inflammatory factors and changes of histological properties of dorsal root ganglion were observed to test the efficacy of this treatment option for lower back and extremity pain due secondary to LDH. All the rats survived by the end of eight week study period. The expression of TNF-α, IL-1, IL-6 both in dorsal root ganglia and blood serum were significantly lower in the experimental group than the control group (P <0.01). Histopathologic examination results showed better preserved tissue structural integrity of nerve ganglion in rats treated with BMSCs overexpressing microRNA-182-5p. Those results indicated that, BMSCs overexpressing microRNA-182-5p can significantly inhibit inflammatory reaction after LDH, and may be used as a therapeutic option to alleviate pain in patients with neurogenic pain after LDH.