Dipartimento di Scienze Farmacologiche e Biomolecolari, Università degli Studi di Milano, 20133 Milan, Italy.
Int J Mol Sci. 2020 Nov 26;21(23):9000. doi: 10.3390/ijms21239000.
Peripheral neuropathy (PN) refers to many conditions involving damage to the peripheral nervous system (PNS). Usually, PN causes weakness, numbness and pain and is the result of traumatic injuries, infections, metabolic problems, inherited causes, or exposure to chemicals. Despite the high prevalence of PN, available treatments are still unsatisfactory. Neuroactive steroids (i.e., steroid hormones synthesized by peripheral glands as well as steroids directly synthesized in the nervous system) represent important physiological regulators of PNS functionality. Data obtained so far and here discussed, indeed show that in several experimental models of PN the levels of neuroactive steroids are affected by the pathology and that treatment with these molecules is able to exert protective effects on several PN features, including neuropathic pain. Of note, the observations that neuroactive steroid levels are sexually dimorphic not only in physiological status but also in PN, associated with the finding that PN show sex dimorphic manifestations, may suggest the possibility of a sex specific therapy based on neuroactive steroids.
周围神经病变（PN）是指多种涉及周围神经系统（PNS）损伤的疾病。通常，PN 会导致虚弱、麻木和疼痛，是创伤性损伤、感染、代谢问题、遗传原因或接触化学物质的结果。尽管 PN 的患病率很高，但现有的治疗方法仍然不尽如人意。神经活性甾体（即外周腺体合成的甾体激素以及神经系统内直接合成的甾体）是 PNS 功能的重要生理调节剂。迄今为止获得的数据并在此讨论的数据确实表明，在几种 PN 实验模型中，神经活性甾体的水平受到病理学的影响，并且用这些分子治疗能够对几种 PN 特征发挥保护作用，包括神经性疼痛。值得注意的是，神经活性甾体水平不仅在生理状态下存在性别二态性，而且在 PN 中也存在性别二态性，这与 PN 表现出性别二态性表现的发现有关，这可能提示基于神经活性甾体的治疗具有性别特异性的可能性。
