Department of Integrative Biology and Pharmacology, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, 6431 Fannin Street, Houston, TX 77030;
Department of Neuroscience and Cell Biology, University of Texas Medical Branch, 301 University Boulevard, Galveston, TX 77555-1069.
Curr Neuropharmacol. 2013 Dec;11(6):652-63. doi: 10.2174/1570159X113119990040.
Chronic pain affects billions of lives globally and is a major public health problem in the United States. However, pain management is still a challenging task due to a lack of understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of pain. In the past decades transient receptor potential (TRP) channels have been identified as molecular sensors of tissue damage and inflammation. Activation/sensitization of TRP channels in peripheral nociceptors produces neurogenic inflammation and contributes to both somatic and visceral pain. Pharmacological and genetic studies have affirmed the role of TRP channels in multiple forms of inflammatory and neuropathic pain. Thus pain-evoking TRP channels emerge as promising therapeutic targets for a wide variety of pain and inflammatory conditions.
慢性疼痛影响着全球数十亿人的生活，是美国的一个主要公共卫生问题。然而，由于对疼痛基本机制的理解不足，疼痛管理仍然是一项具有挑战性的任务。在过去的几十年中，瞬时受体电位 (TRP) 通道已被确定为组织损伤和炎症的分子传感器。外周伤害感受器中 TRP 通道的激活/敏化会产生神经源性炎症，从而导致躯体和内脏疼痛。药理学和遗传学研究证实了 TRP 通道在多种形式的炎症性和神经性疼痛中的作用。因此，引起疼痛的 TRP 通道成为治疗各种疼痛和炎症疾病的有希望的治疗靶点。
