Pharmacology & therapeutics
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Injury to peripheral or spinal nerves following either trauma or disease has several consequences including the development of neuropathic pain. This syndrome is often refractory against conventional analgesics; and thus, novel medicaments are desired for its treatment. Recent studies have emphasized that dysfunction of inhibitory neuronal regulation of pain signal transduction may be relevant to the development of neuropathic pain. ⋯ Their anti-allodynia effects are mediated by the inhibition of GlyTs following activation of spinal glycine receptor alpha3. These results established GlyTs as target molecules for medicaments for neuropathic pain. Moreover, the phase-dependent anti-allodynia effects of GlyT inhibitors have provided important information on effective therapeutic strategies and also understanding the underlying molecular mechanisms of the development of neuropathic pain.