Costa Filipa Alexandra Leite, Moreira Neto Fani Lourença
Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.
Departamento de Biologia Experimental, Centro de Investigação Médica da Faculdade de Medicina do Porto (CIM-FMUP), Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal; Grupo de Morfofisiologia do Sistema Nervoso, Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular (IBMC), Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.
Rev Bras Anestesiol. 2015 Jan-Feb;65(1):73-81. doi: 10.1016/j.bjan.2013.07.013. Epub 2014 May 10.
Satellite glial cells in sensory ganglia are a recent subject of research in the field of pain and a possible therapeutic target in the future. Therefore, the aim of this study was to summarize some of the important physiological and morphological characteristics of these cells and gather the most relevant scientific evidence about its possible role in the development of chronic pain.
In the sensory ganglia, each neuronal body is surrounded by satellite glial cells forming distinct functional units. This close relationship enables bidirectional communication via a paracrine signaling between those two cell types. There is a growing body of evidence that glial satellite cells undergo structural and biochemical changes after nerve injury, which influence neuronal excitability and consequently the development and/or maintenance of pain in different animal models of chronic pain.
Satellite glial cells are important in the establishment of physiological pain, in addition to being a potential target for the development of new pain treatments.
感觉神经节中的卫星胶质细胞是疼痛领域近期的研究对象，也是未来可能的治疗靶点。因此，本研究的目的是总结这些细胞的一些重要生理和形态学特征，并收集关于其在慢性疼痛发生中可能作用的最相关科学证据。
在感觉神经节中，每个神经元胞体都被卫星胶质细胞包围，形成独特的功能单元。这种密切关系使得这两种细胞类型之间能够通过旁分泌信号进行双向通信。越来越多的证据表明，在神经损伤后，胶质卫星细胞会发生结构和生化变化，这会影响神经元兴奋性，进而影响不同慢性疼痛动物模型中疼痛的发生和/或维持。
卫星胶质细胞不仅是新疼痛治疗方法开发的潜在靶点，在生理性疼痛的形成中也很重要。
