Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Nanchang University, Nanchang City, Jiangxi province, 343000, China.
Department of Gastrointestinal surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Nanchang University, Nanchang City, Jiangxi province, 343000, China.
Eur J Pharmacol. 2023 Oct 5;956:175955. doi: 10.1016/j.ejphar.2023.175955. Epub 2023 Aug 2.
Neuropathic pain (NPP) is a common syndrome associated with most forms of disease, which poses a serious threat to human health. NPP may persist even after the nociceptive stimulation is eliminated, and treatment is extremely challenging in such cases. Schwann cells (SCs) form the myelin sheaths around neuronal axons and play a crucial role in neural information transmission. SCs can secrete trophic factors to nourish and protect axons, and can further secrete pain-related factors to induce pain. SCs may be activated by peripheral nerve injury, triggering the transformation of myelinated and non-myelinated SCs into cell phenotypes that specifically promote repair. These differentiated SCs provide necessary signals and spatial clues for survival, axonal regeneration, and nerve regeneration of damaged neurons. They can further change the microenvironment around the regions of nerve injury, and relieve the pain by repairing the injured nerve. Herein, we provide a comprehensive overview of the biological characteristics of SCs, discuss the relationship between SCs and nerve injury, and explore the potential mechanism of SCs and the occurrence of NPP. Moreover, we summarize the feasible strategies of SCs in the treatment of NPP, and attempt to elucidate the deficiencies and defects of SCs in the treatment of NPP.
神经病理性疼痛（NPP）是一种与大多数疾病形式相关的常见综合征，对人类健康构成严重威胁。即使在消除伤害性刺激后，NPP 仍可能持续存在，在这种情况下治疗极具挑战性。许旺细胞（SCs）形成神经元轴突周围的髓鞘，并在神经信息传递中发挥关键作用。SCs 可以分泌营养因子来滋养和保护轴突，还可以进一步分泌与疼痛相关的因子来引发疼痛。SCs 可能会被周围神经损伤激活，触发有髓鞘和无髓鞘的SCs 转化为专门促进修复的细胞表型。这些分化的SCs 为受损神经元的存活、轴突再生和神经再生提供了必要的信号和空间线索。它们还可以进一步改变神经损伤区域周围的微环境，通过修复受损神经来缓解疼痛。在此，我们全面概述了SCs 的生物学特性，讨论了SCs 与神经损伤的关系，并探讨了SCs 发生和 NPP 的潜在机制。此外，我们总结了SCs 治疗 NPP 的可行策略，并试图阐明SCs 在治疗 NPP 中的不足和缺陷。
