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Review
. 2021 Jul;28(3-4):219-228.
doi: 10.1177/09727531211046367. Epub 2021 Oct 18.

Role of Microglia and Astrocytes in Spinal Cord Injury Induced Neuropathic Pain

Gurwattan S Miranpuri  1 , Parul Bali  2 , Justyn Nguyen  1 , Jason J Kim  1 , Shweta Modgil  3 , Priya Mehra  3   4 , Seah Buttar  1 , Greta Brown  1 , Noemi Yutuc  1 , Harpreet Singh  1 , Aleksandar Wood  1 , Jagtar Singh  4 , Akshay Anand  3   5   6
Affiliations
Review

Role of Microglia and Astrocytes in Spinal Cord Injury Induced Neuropathic Pain

Gurwattan S Miranpuri et al. Ann Neurosci. 2021 Jul.

Abstract

Background: Spinal cord injuries incite varying degrees of symptoms in patients, ranging from weakness and incoordination to paralysis. Common amongst spinal cord injury (SCI) patients, neuropathic pain (NP) is a debilitating medical condition. Unfortunately, there remain many clinical impediments in treating NP because there is a lack of understanding regarding the mechanisms behind SCI-induced NP (SCINP). Given that more than 450,000 people in the United States alone suffer from SCI, it is unsatisfactory that current treatments yield poor results in alleviating and treating NP.

Summary: In this review, we briefly discussed the models of SCINP along with the mechanisms of NP progression. Further, current treatment modalities are herein explored for SCINP involving pharmacological interventions targeting glia cells and astrocytes.

Key message: The studies presented in this review provide insight for new directions regarding SCINP alleviation. Given the severity and incapacitating effects of SCINP, it is imperative to study the pathways involved and find new therapeutic targets in coordination with stem cell research, and to develop a new gold-standard in SCINP treatment.

Keywords: Astrocytes; JNK; Matrix metalloproteinases; Microglia; Neuropathic pain; P2 receptors; Spinal cord injury.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. Schematic Representation of Spinal Cord Injury Causes Neuropathic Pain Induces by Elevation of Inflammatory Marker and Cytokines.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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