Articles: neuralgia.
-
The incidence of peripheral neuropathy development and chronic pain is strongly associated with the arrival of senescence. The gradual physiological decline that begins after the mature stage produces myelin dysregulation and pathological changes in peripheral nervous system, attributed to reduction in myelin proteins expression and thinner myelin sheath. Moreover in elder subjects, when nerve damage occurs, the regenerative processes are seriously compromised and neuropathic pain (NeP) is maintained. ⋯ Differently from adults, it does not affect fibres myelination. In light of a continuous growth in elderly population and correlated health problems, including metabolic disorders, the prevalence of neuropathy is enhancing, generating a significant public cost and social concern. In this context energy depletion by dietary restriction can be a therapeutic option in NeP.
-
Pulsed radiofrequency treatment adjacent to the cervical dorsal root ganglion is used to treat persistent cervical radicular pain that has not responded to conservative therapies. This technique has gained popularity in years for both cervical and lumbosacral radicular pain. The evidence to support its use is still evolving.
-
Oxaliplatin is a first-line clinical drug in cancer treatment and its side effects of peripheral neuropathic pain have also attracted much attention. Neuroinflammation induced by oxidative stress-mediated activation of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) plays an important role in the course. Current studies have shown that curcumin has various biological activities like antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antitumor and so on, while few studies were conducted about its role in oxaliplatin-induced peripheral neuropathic pain. ⋯ In addition, curcumin administration increased superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), catalase (CAT) and reduced malondialdehyde (MDA). Moreover, the curcumin operation inhibited the activated of NF-κB and level of inflammatory factors like tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and interleukin-6 (IL-6). In conclusion, these findings suggested that curcumin could alleviate oxaliplatin-induced peripheral neuropathic pain; the mechanism might be inhibiting oxidative stress-mediated activation of NF-κB and mitigating neuroinflammation.
-
The role of the nucleus accumbens (NAc) in chronic neuropathic pain has been suggested, but the role of the NAc in dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neuropathic pain remains unclear. The objective of this study was to determine whether optogenetic stimulation of the NAc influences DRG compression-induced neuropathic pain. ⋯ The NAc core impacts the reward and motivational aspects of chronic neuropathic pain influenced by limbic behaviors to thalamic discharge. Increased thalamic firing activity may result in chronic compressed DRG-induced neuropathic pain, and optogenetic neuromodulation of the NAc can ease chronic pain and thalamic discharge.
-
Chronic neuropathic pain associated with peripheral neuropathies cannot be attributed solely to lesions of peripheral sensory axons and likely involves alteration in the processing of nociceptive information in the central nervous system in most patients. Few data are available regarding EEG correlates of chronic neuropathic pain. The fact is that effective cortical neuromodulation strategies to treat neuropathic pain target the precentral cortical region, i.e. a cortical area corresponding to the motor cortex. It is not known how these strategies might modulate brain rhythms in the central cortical region, but it can be speculated that sensorimotor rhythms (SMRs) are modified. Another potent way of modulating cortical rhythms is to use EEG-based neurofeedback (NFB). Rare studies previously aimed at relieving neuropathic pain using EEG-NFB training. ⋯ The value of EEG-NFB procedures to relieve neuropathic pain has been rarely studied. This pilot study will attempt to show the value of endogenous modulation of brain rhythms in the central (rolandic) region in the frequency band corresponding to the frequency of stimulation currently used by therapeutic motor cortex stimulation. In the case of significant clinical benefit produced by the low-β(SMR)/high-β ratio increasing strategy, this work could pave the way for using EEG-NFB training within the armamentarium of neuropathic pain therapy.