Abnormal neural activity generated at a site of nerve injury is thought to contribute to the development of dysaesthesia. Vanilloid receptor 1 (TRPV1), a transducer of noxious stimuli, may be involved in the initiation of this abnormal activity and could provide a useful therapeutic target. We investigated the effect of a specific TRPV1 antagonist (SB-750364) on injury-induced discharge in the lingual nerve. In 12 anaesthetised adult ferrets the left lingual nerve was sectioned and animals were allowed to recover for 3-7 days. In terminal experiments under general anaesthesia, the nerve was re-exposed and electrophysiological recordings made from spontaneously active axons in fine filaments dissected from the nerve central to both the injury site and the junction with the chorda tympani. SB-750364 was infused via the cephalic vein in order to achieve three increasing but stable systemic blood levels of the compound (0.3, 1.0 and 3.0 microM). Twenty-eight spontaneously active units were studied, with discharge frequencies ranging from 0.02 to 4.9 Hz. There was a significant reduction in spontaneous activity in 17 units (61%) at 1.0 microM or less of SB-750364 (p<0.01; Friedman test with Dunn's multiple comparisons). A further 4 units (14%) showed a significant reduction in activity at 3.0 microM (p<0.01). In the remaining 7 units (25%) the discharge was unaffected (p>0.05). These data show that the TRPV1 antagonist SB-750364 can reduce the level of spontaneous activity initiated in some axons following lingual nerve injury.