Spinal cord glial activation and pathological pain modulation

Abstract

Background Considerable studies have demonstrated that activation of spinal cord glial cells (astrocytes and microglia) is a common phenomenon in various pathological pain models, and the activated glial cells play an important role in the development and maintenance of pathological pain. Purpose To explore the role of spinal cord glia in pathological pain modulation. Content This article reviews the research advances in the role of spinal cord glia. It focuses on the several aspects of spinal cord glia-the physiological basis of glia contributing to pathological pain, glial activation and its detection, activation of glia and pathological pain, and glial modulation of pain. Trend Glial cells have been drawing the attention of pain researchers because targeting spinal cord glia is a new view of clinical pain therapies. Key words: Spinal cord; Glia; Pathological pain