Neuropathic pain: pharmacological treatment and cell therapy Pathological pain occurs when the pain continues after the wound or injury has healed and the exaggerated "pain" becomes chronic. Among the different types of chronic exaggerated "pain" the most difficult to manage in the pain clinic field remains neuropathic one. Neuropathic pain is caused by lesion or inflammation of the nervous system. Diabetes, immune deficiencies, malignant disease, ischemic disorders may all give rise to neuropathic pain. So, it is relatively common, with a high incidence estimated in the world population. Symptoms of neuropathic pain may include allodynia (pain resulting from a stimulus that is normally non-painful), hyperalgesia (an excessive response to painful stimuli) and spontaneous pain. It is often severely debilitating and largely resistant to treatment, mainly because the underlying mechanisms are still poorly understood. In this context our group of research is studying in an animal model of neuropathic pain such as the chronic constriction of sciatic nerve, the effect of new agents that inhibit pain transmission, nociceptor sensitization, glia activation and production and release of inflammatory mediators including pro-inflammatory cytokines (such as TNF and IL-1β), glutamate (Glu), prostaglandins (PGs) and nitric oxide (NO). Moreover, since the drugs are usually not acting on the several mechanisms underlying the generation and propagation of pain, our research is also directed to evaluate the ability of cell therapy to relieve neuropathic pain.
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