Neutrophins: Mediators and Modulators of Pain

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Annu Rev Neurosci. 2006;29:507-38.

Neutrophins: Mediators and Modulators of Pain.

Pezet S, McMahon SB.

The London Pain Consortium, King's College London, The Wolfson Center

for Age-Related Diseases, SE1 1UL London, United Kingdom.

The neurotrophin family of neurotrophic factors are well-known for

their effects on neuronal survival and growth. Over the past decade,

considerable evidence has accumulated from both humans and animals

that one neurotrophin, nerve growth factor (NGF), is a peripheral

pain mediator, particularly in inflammatory pain states.

NGF is upregulated in a wide variety of inflammatory conditions, and

NGF-neutralizing molecules are effective analgesic agents in many

models of persistent pain. Such molecules are now being evaluated in

clinical trials. NGF regulates the expression of a second

neurotrophin, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), in

nociceptors.

BDNF is released when nociceptors are activated, and it acts as a

central modulator of pain. The chapter reviews the evidence for these

roles (and briefly the effects of other neurotrophins), the range of

conditions under which they act, and their mechanism of action.