Articles: neuralgia.
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Ginsenoside Rh2 is one of the major bioactive ginsenosides in Panax ginseng. Although Rh2 is known to enhance immune cells activity for treatment of cancer, its anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects have yet to be determined. In this study, we investigated the effects of Rh2 on spared nerve injury (SNI)-induced neuropathic pain and elucidated the potential mechanisms. ⋯ Rh2 treatment blocked the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway by inhibiting of phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated kinase expression. Finally, intrathecal injection of TLR8 agonist VTX-2337 reversed the analgesic effect of Rh2. These results indicated that Rh2 relieved SNI-induced neuropathic pain via inhibiting the miRNA-21-TLR8-MAPK signaling pathway, thus providing a potential application of Rh2 in pain therapy.
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Neuropathic pain (NP) is the cardinal symptom of neural injury, and its underlying molecular mechanism needs further investigation. Complements, especially complement 3 (C3), are involved in the pathophysiology of many neurological disorders, while the specific role of C3 in NP is still obscure. ⋯ Intrathecal injection of C3 antibody and C3aR antagonist alleviated NP in CCI model together with reduced M1 polarization of microglia. Our finding suggested that blockade of the C3/C3aR pathway might be a novel strategy for NP.
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Pulsed radiofrequency (PRF) is a commonly used method for the treatment of zoster-related pain in the clinic. However, PRF therapy has a high recurrence rate and many adverse reactions. Recent studies have shown that short-term spinal cord stimulation (stSCS) can effectively alleviate zoster-related pain. Due to the lack of evidence, it is unclear whether stSCS is superior to PRF in the efficacy of treating zoster-related pain. ⋯ In this study, stSCS showed a better analgesic effect and higher safety than PRF. Our meta-analysis results suggested that stSCS may be a feasible and safe invasive treatment for zoster-related pain. However, high-quality, randomized controlled trials with large sample sizes are needed to further verify our conclusions.
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Neuropathic pain symptoms and signs of increased pain sensitization in osteoarthritis (OA) patients may explain persistent pain after total joint replacement (TJR). Therefore, identifying genetic markers associated with pain sensitization and neuropathic-like pain phenotypes could be clinically important in identifying targets for early intervention. ⋯ To the best of our knowledge, this is the first GWAS for pain sensitization and the first gene-based meta-analysis of pain sensitization and neuropathic-like pain. Higher pain sensitization and neuropathic pain symptoms are associated with persistent pain after surgery hence, identifying genetic biomarkers and molecular pathways associated with these traits is clinically relevant.