Neurobiology of Chronicity of Pain

A special issue of Cells (ISSN 2073-4409). This special issue belongs to the section "Cells of the Nervous System".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 May 2025 | Viewed by 1907

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Biological Applications & Technology, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece
Interests: insular cortex in pain

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Pain plays an important role in the struggle for survival in organisms. It alerts of impending danger, and it mediates the tending to injured tissues. It is also integral for learning and memory from previous experiences. However, not all pain is considered beneficial; chronic pain, that is, pain that lasts and persists beyond the recovery period of a disease, is considered maladaptive. This chronicity is associated with a deterioration in quality of life and is followed by anxiodepressive comorbidities. Furthermore, chronic pain treatment remains a challenge. Research on the neurobiology of chronic pain is an essential step towards providing better care for chronic pain patients. 

In this Special Issue, we invite researchers to submit original research or review manuscripts on topics such as the molecular and cellular underpinnings of pain chronicity, the synaptic mechanisms involved in chronic pain, and the brain circuits and networks affected by chronic pain.

Dr. Charalampos Labrakakis
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • pain
  • chronicity
  • synapses
  • receptors
  • brain circuits
  • depression
  • comorbidities

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

16 pages, 493 KiB  
Review
Painful Diabetic Neuropathy: Sex-Specific Mechanisms and Differences from Animal Models to Clinical Outcomes
by Emma Merlin, Chiara Salio and Francesco Ferrini
Cells 2024, 13(23), 2024; https://doi.org/10.3390/cells13232024 - 7 Dec 2024
Viewed by 1516
Abstract
Diabetes is a chronic and progressive disease associated with high blood glucose levels. Several co-morbidities arise from diabetes, the most common and severe one is diabetic neuropathy whose symptoms also include pain hypersensitivity. Currently, there are no effective therapies to counteract painful diabetic [...] Read more.
Diabetes is a chronic and progressive disease associated with high blood glucose levels. Several co-morbidities arise from diabetes, the most common and severe one is diabetic neuropathy whose symptoms also include pain hypersensitivity. Currently, there are no effective therapies to counteract painful diabetic neuropathy or slow down the progression of the disease, and the underlying mechanisms are yet to be fully understood. Emerging data in recent decades have provided compelling evidence that the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying chronic pain are different across the sexes. Interestingly, relevant differences have also been observed in the course and clinical presentation of painful diabetic neuropathy in humans. Here, we reviewed the current state of the art on sex differences in diabetic neuropathy, from animal models to clinical data. Comparing the output of both preclinical and clinical studies is necessary for properly orienting future choices in pain research, refining animal models, and interpreting clinical data. The identification of sex-specific mechanisms may help to develop more targeted therapies to counteract pain symptoms in diabetes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Neurobiology of Chronicity of Pain)
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