Neuroinflammation and Central Sensitization in Chronic and Widespread Pain
Two articles on PainSci cite Ji 2018: (1) 34 Surprising Causes of Pain (2) Chronic, Subtle, Systemic Inflammation
PainSci notes on Ji 2018:
original abstract †Abstracts here may not perfectly match originals, for a variety of technical and practical reasons. Some abstacts are truncated for my purposes here, if they are particularly long-winded and unhelpful. I occasionally add clarifying notes. And I make some minor corrections.
Chronic pain is maintained in part by central sensitization, a phenomenon of synaptic plasticity, and increased neuronal responsiveness in central pain pathways after painful insults. Accumulating evidence suggests that central sensitization is also driven by neuroinflammation in the peripheral and central nervous system. A characteristic feature of neuroinflammation is the activation of glial cells, such as microglia and astrocytes, in the spinal cord and brain, leading to the release of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines. Recent studies suggest that central cytokines and chemokines are powerful neuromodulators and play a sufficient role in inducing hyperalgesia and allodynia after central nervous system administration. Sustained increase of cytokines and chemokines in the central nervous system also promotes chronic widespread pain that affects multiple body sites. Thus, neuroinflammation drives widespread chronic pain via central sensitization. We also discuss sex-dependent glial/immune signaling in chronic pain and new therapeutic approaches that control neuroinflammation for the resolution of chronic pain.
related content
- “An evolutionary stress-response hypothesis for chronic widespread pain (fibromyalgia syndrome),” Pamela Lyon, Milton Cohen, and John Quintner, Pain Med, 2011.
- “Brain glial activation in fibromyalgia - A multi-site positron emission tomography investigation,” Daniel S Albrecht, Anton Forsberg, Angelica Sandström, Courtney Bergan, Diana Kadetoff, Ekaterina Protsenko, Jon Lampa, Yvonne C Lee, Caroline Olgart Höglund, Ciprian Catana, Simon Cervenka, Oluwaseun Akeju, Mats Lekander, George Cohen, Christer Halldin, Norman Taylor, Minhae Kim, Jacob M Hooker, Robert R Edwards, Vitaly Napadow, Eva Kosek, and Marco L Loggia, Brain Behav Immun, 2019.
- “Evolution, Stress and Fibromyalgia,” John Quintner, FMperplex.com.
Specifically regarding Ji 2018:
- “Fibromyalgia and Neuroinflammation: Shall the Twain Ever Meet?,” John Quintner, FMperplex.com.
This page is part of the PainScience BIBLIOGRAPHY, which contains plain language summaries of thousands of scientific papers & others sources. It’s like a highly specialized blog. A few highlights:
- Relationships Between Sleep Quality and Pain-Related Factors for People with Chronic Low Back Pain: Tests of Reciprocal and Time of Day Effects. Gerhart 2017 Ann Behav Med.
- Modulation in the elastic properties of gastrocnemius muscle heads in individuals with plantar fasciitis and its relationship with pain. Zhou 2020 Sci Rep.
- Association Between Plantar Fasciitis and Isolated Gastrocnemius Tightness. Nakale 2018 Foot Ankle Int.
- No Added Benefit of Combining Dry Needling With Guideline-Based Physical Therapy When Managing Chronic Neck Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Stieven 2020 J Orthop Sports Phys Ther.
- Effectiveness of customised foot orthoses for Achilles tendinopathy: a randomised controlled trial. Munteanu 2015 Br J Sports Med.