Abstract

Drugs could treat neuropathic pain more effectively if they simultaneously targeted two or more types of ion channel.

Highlights

  • Action potentials rely on the activity of many dif­ ferent subtypes of ion channels, which there­ fore define the excitability profile of neurons

  • Neuropathic pain occurs after lesions in the peripheral or central nervous system and involves the appearance of highly debilitating spontaneous pain and hypersensitivity to both painful stimuli and sen­ sory stimuli

  • Applying the opposite changes—decreasing the sodium conductance, increasing the potassium conductance, or both—can reverse the hyperex­ citability observed in nerve-injured animals expe­ riencing neuropathic pain

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Summary

Introduction

Theoretical and experimental studies have dem­ onstrated that neurons are able to generate the same excitability profile in many different ways (Marder and Goaillard, 2006; Marder and Taylor, 2011), to the extent that normal levels of excit­ ability can be maintained even if a major ion channel is chronically deleted, as seen in knockout animals. Ratté et al studied how the degeneracy involved in generating action potentials may affect the development of the hyperexcitability associ­ ated with neuropathic pain.

Results
Conclusion

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