Department of Anatomy and Centre for Molecular Biology and Neuroscience, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
Neuroscientist. 2011 Jun;17(3):256-73. doi: 10.1177/1073858409349913. Epub 2010 Apr 1.
Pain hypersensitivity that develops after tissue or nerve injury is dependent both on peripheral processes in the affected tissue and on enhanced neuronal responses in the central nervous system, including the dorsal horn of the spinal cord. It has become increasingly clear that strengthening of glutamatergic sensory synapses, such as those established in the dorsal horn by nociceptive thin-caliber primary afferent fibers, is a major contributor to sensitization of neuronal responses that leads to pain hypersensitivity. Here, the authors review recent findings on the roles of ionotropic glutamate receptors in synaptic plasticity in the dorsal horn in relation to acute and persistent pain.
痛觉过敏是组织或神经损伤后产生的，既依赖于受影响组织中的外周过程，也依赖于中枢神经系统（包括脊髓背角）中神经元反应的增强。越来越明显的是，增强谷氨酸能感觉突触，如伤害性细纤维初级传入纤维在背角建立的突触，是导致痛觉过敏的神经元反应敏化的主要因素。在这里，作者回顾了最近关于离子型谷氨酸受体在背角突触可塑性中与急性和持续性疼痛的关系的发现。
