Nerve injury results in neuropathic pain, a debilitating pain condition. Whereas cannabinoids are consistently shown to attenuate neuropathic pain, the efficacy of opioids is highly controversial. Molecular mechanisms underlying analgesic effects of opioids and cannabinoids are not fully understood. We have shown that the signaling molecule ERK (extracellular signal-regulated kinase) is activat...

Microglia in the spinal cord may play an important role in the development and maintenance of neuropathic pain. A metabotropic ATP receptor, P2Y(12), has been shown to be expressed in spinal microglia constitutively and be involved in chemotaxis. Activation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) occurs in spinal microglia after nerve injury and may be related to the production of cytoki...

BACKGROUND Nitric oxide generated by neuronal (NOS1), inducible (NOS2) or endothelial (NOS3) nitric oxide synthases contributes to pain processing, but the exact role of NOS1 and NOS2 in the maintenance of chronic peripheral neuropathic pain as well as the possible compensatory changes in their expression in the spinal cord of wild type (WT) and NOS knockout (KO) mice at 21 days after total sci...

Nerve injury can lead to mechanical hypersensitivity in both humans and animal models, such that innocuous touch produces pain. Recent functional studies have demonstrated a critical role for descending pain-facilitating influences from the rostral ventromedial medulla (RVM) in neuropathic pain, but the underlying mechanisms and properties of the relevant neurons within the RVM are essentially ...

many experimental studies have reported behavioral improvement after transplantation of peripheral nerve tissue into the contused spinal cord, even in large animals. the safety of this treatment in human remains unknown. in this translational phase 1 study, safety of peripheral nerve grafting for chronic spinal cord injuries and possible outcomes are being reported. twelve complete motor spinal...

Background: Chronic pain treatment until now is still challenging because of its complex pathopgysiology. Previously, red ginger oil (RGO) reduced behavior in a mouse model chronic pain, but the mechanisms were unclear. Objectives: This study examined effect RGO on cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 and N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) using inflammatory- or neuropathy-induced mice. Methods: Red was d...

BACKGROUND Gabapentin reduces acute postoperative and chronic neuropathic pain, but its sites and mechanisms of action are unclear. Based on previous electrophysiologic studies, the authors tested whether gabapentin reduced γ-amino butyric acid (GABA) release in the locus coeruleus (LC), a major site of descending inhibition, rather than in the spinal cord. METHODS Male Sprague-Dawley rats wi...

of mouse lumbar spinal cord taken 7 d after partial sciatic nerve ligation. The section is stained for microglial markers Iba1 (red) and phosphorylated p-38 MAPK (green), as well as the nuclear marker DAPI (blue). The orphan G-protein receptor 84 (GPR84) is markedly induced in macrophages and microglia during inflammation, and it contributes to the development of mechanical and thermal hypersen...