Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 13, 2025

Partial Sciatic Nerve Ligation: A Mouse Model of Chronic Neuropathic Pain to Study the Antinociceptive Effect of Novel Therapies
Published on: October 6, 2022
Neuropathic Pain: Mechanisms, Sex Differences, and Potential Therapies for a Global Problem
Shahrzad Ghazisaeidi1,2,3, Milind M Muley1,3, Michael W Salter1,2,3
1Program in Neurosciences & Mental Health, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada;
Abstract:
The study of chronic pain continues to generate ever-increasing numbers of publications, but safe and efficacious treatments for chronic pain remain elusive. Recognition of sex-specific mechanisms underlying chronic pain has resulted in a surge of studies that include both sexes. A predominant focus has been on identifying sex differences, yet many newly identified cellular mechanisms and alterations in gene expression are conserved between the sexes. Here we review sex differences and similarities in cellular and molecular signals that drive the generation and resolution of neuropathic pain. The mix of differences and similarities reflects degeneracy in peripheral and central signaling processes by which neurons, immune cells, and glia codependently drive pain hypersensitivity. Recent findings identifying critical signaling nodes foreshadow the development of rationally designed, broadly applicable analgesic strategies. However, the paucity of effective, safe pain treatments compels targeted therapies as well to increase therapeutic options that help reduce the global burden of suffering.
Related Concept Videos
Analgesia and Pain Management
Nociception
Pain
Primary Motives: Sleep, Sex, and Pain Avoidance
Sleep is a fundamental physiological drive that fosters a state of restfulness crucial for several bodily functions. It facilitates body restoration, the process by which the body repairs, rejuvenates, and maintains itself during sleep, including memory...
Local Anesthetics: Differential Sensitivity of Nerve Fibers
Opioid Analgesics: Synthetic and Semisynthetic Opioids

