Neuropathic Pain: A Review of Interneuronal Disinhibition
Journal Title: Archives of Neuroscience - Year 2018, Vol 5, Issue 1
Abstract
Context: Dysfunction of pain circuitry may alter normal pain perception, leading to neuropathic pain. The underlying mechanisms are still unclear, although several animal models of partial nerve injury have been developed. Objectives: This review aimed to describe some essential elements for understanding neuropathic pain after peripheral nerve injury and to discuss its mechanisms with an emphasis on interneuronal disinhibition. Evidence Acquisition: A PubMed search was undertaken with no date restrictions, using a combination of the following keywords: “mechanisms”, “allodynia”, “peripheral nerve injury”, “neuropathic pain”, and “interneuronal disinhibition”. Then, relevant papers on the underlying mechanisms of neuropathic pain after peripheral nerve injury were selected. Results: Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain neuropathic pain, which are not necessarily independent of each other. Interneuronal disinhibition is one of the most promising hypotheses, which includes several possible mechanisms, such as death of inhibitory interneurons (1), reduced afferent drive to inhibitory interneurons (2), depletion of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) (3), GABA dysfunction (4), altered membrane properties of inhibitory interneurons (5), and specific glycine disruption (6). Currently, only some of these hypotheses are promising. Technical discrepancies among experimental studies are partially responsible for some of these controversial results. Conclusions: Formerly neglected circuitries including the glycinergic system, as well as other disturbances such as shift of GABA activity, currently constitute the most promising hypotheses on neuropathic pain. Additional studies on cell types involved in nociceptive transmission and dorsal horn connectivity of the spinal cord are still needed for a better understanding of pain circuitry and its disorders.
Authors and Affiliations
Juliana Mazini Alves, Katia Lin
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP289432
- DOI 10.5812/archneurosci.12290
- Views 62
- Downloads 0
Frequency Evaluation of Early Pregnancy in Spondylolisthesis: A Cross Sectional Study on Iranian Females
Background: Spondylolisthesis is a common skeletal disorder that is rather prevalent among human beings occurring at various areas of spinal cord particularly with higher prevalence in lumbosacral area. There are several...
Dispositional Mindfulness and Neural Correlates of Affect Regulation
Mindfulness meditation and mindfulness-based interventions offer numerous clinical benefits related to improved affect regulation and emotional functioning. Psychological and emot...
The Effect of Compulsory and Voluntary Exercise on Morphine-Induced Conditioned Place Preference in Rats
Background Addiction is described as a condition in which individuals are not able to control their drug use despite long-term negative consequences. Non-drug addiction or behavio...
Multiscaled Complexity Analysis of EEG Epileptic Seizure Using Entropy-Based Techniques
Objectives: The most common chronic disorder due to sudden change in the electrical activity of the brain is known as epilepsy. It causes millions of deaths every year and is the second major disorder after stroke. The e...
Hermeneutics of Art and Poetry Through the Lens of Neuroscience: Letter to Editor
No Abstract