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The Role of Microglial Purinergic Receptors in Pain Signaling
Hidetoshi Tozaki-Saitoh1, Hiroshi Takeda1, Kazuhide Inoue2
1Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy at Fukuoka, International University of Health and Welfare, 137-1 Enokizu, Okawa 831-8501, Japan.
Abstract:
Pain is an essential modality of sensation in the body. Purinergic signaling plays an important role in nociceptive pain transmission, under both physiological and pathophysiological conditions, and is important for communication between both neuronal and non-neuronal cells. Microglia and astrocytes express a variety of purinergic effectors, and a variety of receptors play critical roles in the pathogenesis of neuropathic pain. In this review, we discuss our current knowledge of purinergic signaling and of the compounds that modulate purinergic transmission, with the aim of highlighting the importance of purinergic pathways as targets for the treatment of persistent pain.
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