Contribution of Primary Afferent Channels to Neuropathic Pain

Current Pain and Headache Reports 2009, 13:197-207 Current Medicine Group  LLC ISSN 1531-3433 Copyright © 2010 by Current Medicine Group LLC

Andrea M. Harriott, BS and Michael S. Gold, PhD

Corresponding author:
Michael S. Gold, PhD
Department of Anesthesiology, University of Pittsburgh, 3500 Terrace Street, Room E1440 BST, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
Email: msg22@pitt.edu

Neuropathic pain remains a serious medical problem because of patient morbidity and the absence of effective therapeutic interventions.

Recent evidence suggests that this type of pain may be particularly difficult to manage because underlying mechanisms are influenced by a variety of factors, including type of injury, site of injury, and time after injury.

This situation is exacerbated by the fact that different mechanisms may contribute to unique aspects of neuropathic pain, including ongoing pain as well as mechanical and thermal hypersensitivity. The different ion channels present in primary afferent neurons implicated in each of these aspects of neuropathic pain are reviewed.