Lolignier, S;
Eijkelkamp, N;
Wood, JN;
(2015)
Mechanical allodynia.
Pflugers Arch
, 467
(1)
133 - 139.
10.1007/s00424-014-1532-0.
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Abstract
Mechanical allodynia (other pain) is a painful sensation caused by innocuous stimuli like light touch. Unlike inflammatory hyperalgesia that has a protective role, allodynia has no obvious biological utility. Allodynia is associated with nerve damage in conditions such as diabetes, and is likely to become an increasing clinical problem. Unfortunately, the mechanistic basis of this enhanced sensitivity is incompletely understood. In this review, we describe evidence for the involvement of candidate mechanosensitive channels such as Piezo2 and their role in allodynia, as well as the peripheral and central nervous system mechanisms that have also been implicated in this form of pain. Specific treatments that block allodynia could be very useful if the cell and molecular basis of the condition could be determined. There are many potential mechanisms underlying this condition ranging from alterations in mechanotransduction and sensory neuron excitability to the actions of inflammatory mediators and wiring changes in the CNS. As with other pain conditions, it is likely that the range of redundant mechanisms that cause allodynia will make therapeutic intervention problematic.
Type: | Article |
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Title: | Mechanical allodynia. |
Location: | Germany |
Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
DOI: | 10.1007/s00424-014-1532-0 |
Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00424-014-1532-0 |
Language: | English |
Additional information: | © The Author(s) 2014. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.comThis article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits any use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and the source are credited. |
UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences > Div of Medicine UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences > Div of Medicine > Wolfson Inst for Biomedical Research |
URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1433731 |
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