Mechanisms Underlying the Neuropathic/Chronic Pain Development and Maintenance: Focus on Pharmacological Targets and Therapeutic Approaches
A special issue of Brain Sciences (ISSN 2076-3425). This special issue belongs to the section "Neuropharmacology and Neuropathology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 October 2025 | Viewed by 9
Special Issue Editor
Interests: pain; neuroinflammation; aging; mood disorders
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Pain can result from a wide range of medical conditions, indeed, it is frequently observed in patients with musculoskeletal diseases (e.g., osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, chronic back pain, myofascial pain syndrome, etc.), neurological disorders (peripheral neuropathy of various etiologies, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, post-stroke pain, etc.), oncological conditions (related both to the tumour itself and to treatments, such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy), gastrointestinal diseases (e.g., irritable bowel syndrome, chronic inflammatory bowel diseases, chronic pancreatitis, etc.), gynecological/urogenital disorders (e.g., endometriosis, interstitial cystitis, vulvodynia, chronic prostatitis, etc.), and other conditions (e.g., chronic headache and migraine, chronic post-surgical pain, psychogenic pain, etc.).
Chronic pain is not merely a symptom but is recognized as a disease, as it may persist even after the apparent resolution of the initial cause. Recently, the WHO estimated that one in five people worldwide suffer or have suffered from chronic pain. This is a dramatic picture, considering that current treatments are often unsatisfactory or come with significant side effects.
Furthermore, the experience of pain is shaped by emotional and cognitive dimensions, past experiences, psychological structure, and socio-cultural factors. Identifying the mechanisms underlying the development of pain, predictive biomarkers, and novel therapeutic approaches remains an open challenge.
This Special Issue will welcome original clinical and preclinical studies as well as review manuscript.
Dr. Giada Amodeo
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- neuropathic pain
- chronic pain
- mood alteration
- neurons
- glia cells
- cytokines
- neuroinflammation
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