Update on the pathobiology of neuropathic pain

Abstract

Nerve injury or dysfunction in the peripheral and central nervous systems are the leading causes for the development of neuropathies, which are frequently associated with allodynia and hyperalgesia. Treatment of these disorders is often unsatisfactory due to side effects or insufficient analgesia of the currently available drugs. Therefore, elucidating the molecular mechanisms of neuropathic pain is an important prerequisite for the rational development of novel analgesic drugs for the therapy of neuropathic pain. Several proteomic approaches have been performed to explore protein modifications in the nervous system associated with neuropathies in different animal models, which might contribute to the detection of new drug targets. Furthermore, there are proteomic studies investigating human cerebrospinal fluid from patients suffering from neuropathies. The results of these studies and the potential clinical value of the proteomic data are summarized and discussed in this review.

Keywords::

• allodynia
• analgesics
• drug development
• hyperalgesia
• neuropathy
• sensitization

Financial & competing interests disclosure

Support was provided from the Ministry of Science and Technology (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung [BMBF] 01EM0511), Hannoversche Straße 28–30, 10115 Berlin. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.