Reviewing the case for compromised spinal inhibition in neuropathic pain
- 22 October 2019
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Journal of Neural Transmission
- Vol. 127 (4), 481-503
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-019-02090-0
Abstract
A striking and debilitating property of the nervous system is that damage to this tissue can cause chronic intractable pain, which persists long after resolution of the initial insult. This neuropathic form of pain can arise from trauma to peripheral nerves, the spinal cord, or brain. It can also result from neuropathies associated with disease states such as diabetes, human immunodeficiency virus/AIDS, herpes, multiple sclerosis, cancer, and chemotherapy. Regardless of the origin, treatments for neuropathic pain remain inadequate. This continues to drive research into the underlying mechanisms. While the literature shows that dysfunction in numerous loci throughout the CNS can contribute to chronic pain, the spinal cord and in particular inhibitory signalling in this region have remained major research areas. This review focuses on local spinal inhibition provided by dorsal horn interneurons, and how such inhibition is disrupted during the development and maintenance of neuropathic pain.Keywords
Funding Information
- National Health and Medical Research Council (631000, 1043933, 1144638)
This publication has 183 references indexed in Scilit:
- Forebrain GABAergic Neuron Precursors Integrate into Adult Spinal Cord and Reduce Injury-Induced Neuropathic PainNeuron, 2012
- Kv3.1b and Kv3.3 channel subunit expression in murine spinal dorsal horn GABAergic interneuronesJournal of Chemical Neuroanatomy, 2011
- Loss of Inhibitory Interneurons in the Dorsal Spinal Cord and Elevated Itch in Bhlhb5 Mutant MiceNeuron, 2010
- Stringent Specificity in the Construction of a GABAergic Presynaptic Inhibitory CircuitCell, 2009
- Effects of distal nerve injuries on dorsal-horn neurons and glia: Relationships between lesion size and mechanical hyperalgesiaNeuroscience, 2009
- Tactile allodynia can occur in the spared nerve injury model in the rat without selective loss of GABA or GABAA receptors from synapses in laminae I–II of the ipsilateral spinal dorsal hornNeuroscience, 2008
- Physiological properties of spinal lamina II GABAergic neurons in mice following peripheral nerve injuryThe Journal of Physiology, 2006
- Protein expression and mRNA cellular distribution of the NKCC1 cotransporter in the dorsal root and trigeminal ganglia of the ratBrain Research, 2006
- Variations on an inhibitory theme: phasic and tonic activation of GABAA receptorsNature Reviews Neuroscience, 2005
- Trans-synaptic shift in anion gradient in spinal lamina I neurons as a mechanism of neuropathic painNature, 2003