Chronic pain susceptibility is associated with anhedonic behavior and alterations in the accumbal ubiquitin-proteasome system

It remains unknown why upon similar acute/subacute painful conditions, pain persists in some individuals while in others it resolves. Genetic factors, mood, and functional alterations, particularly involving the mesolimbic network, appear to be key. In order to explore potential susceptibility/resistance factors, we screened a large population of rats with a peripheral neuropathy, and we isolated a small subset (<15%) that presented high thresholds (HT) to mechanical allodynia (reduced pain manifestation). The phenotype was sustained over 12 weeks and was associated with higher hedonic behavior when compared with low threshold subjects (LT). The nucleus accumbens (NAc) of HT and LT animals were isolated for proteomic analysis by Sequential Window Acquisition of All Theoretical Mass Spectra (SWATH-MS). Two hundred and sevety-nine proteins proteins displayed different expression between LT and HT animals/subjects.