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New tricks for an old slug: Descending serotonergic system in pain

Wei Feng^*, Gu Ming, Chu Yu-Xia

Department of Neural and Pain Sciences, Dental School, Program in Neuroscience, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA

Abstract

A large body of research including animal and human studies has confirmed the crucial role of the serotonin (5-HT) system in the regulation of nociception and chronic pain-related behaviors. In recent years, the functional status of the 5-HT system in descending inhibition and facilitation of spinal nociceptive processing has been reevaluated by novel genetic manipulation techniques and selective agents for 5-HT receptor subtypes. Although these studies shed more light on several aspects of descending 5-HT and spinal 5-HT receptors functioning in descending modulation in pain perception, the current knowledge about the specific role of descending 5-HT system in the induction and maintenance of persistent pain remains fragmentary. In this paper, we review the available data from recent studies of the inhibitory or facilitatory influence from descending 5-HT-spinal 5-HT receptor system in acute and persistent pain, attempt to dissect the involvement of this signaling pathway in neural circuits of maintenance of persistent pain and discuss some issues that need to be considered for further pain research.

Key words: 5-HT; 5-HT receptor; descending modulation; spinal cord; pain

Received: 2012-08-10　　Accepted: 2012-09-07

Corresponding author: 魏锋　　E-mail: fwei@umaryland.edu

Citing This Article：

Wei Feng, Gu Ming, Chu Yu-Xia. New tricks for an old slug: Descending serotonergic system in pain. Acta Physiol Sin 2012; 64 (5): 520-530 (in Chinese with English abstract).