Neuropathic Pain: Delving into the Oxidative Origin and the Possible Implication of Transient Receptor Potential Channels (original) (raw)

2018, Frontiers in physiology

Currently, neuropathic pain is an underestimated socioeconomic health problem affecting millions of people worldwide, which incidence may increase in the next years due to chronification of several diseases, such as cancer and diabetes. Growing evidence links neuropathic pain present in several disorders [i.e., spinal cord injury (SCI), cancer, diabetes and alcoholism] to central sensitization, as a global result of mitochondrial dysfunction induced by oxidative and nitrosative stress. Additionally, inflammatory signals and the overload in intracellular calcium ion could be also implicated in this complex network that has not yet been elucidated. Recently, calcium channels namely transient receptor potential (TRP) superfamily, including members of the subfamilies A (TRAP1), M (TRPM2 and 7), and V (TRPV1 and 4), have demonstrated to play a role in the nociception mediated by sensory neurons. Therefore, as neuropathic pain could be a consequence of the imbalance between reactive oxyge...