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Peripheral gating of pain signals by endogenous lipid mediators

2014; Nature Portfolio; Volume: 17; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1038/nn.3612

1546-1726

Daniele Piomelli, Oscar Sasso,

Adipose Tissue and Metabolism

In this Review, Piomelli and Sasso survey the functions of endogenous lipid mediators in the peripheral gating of nociceptive signals. They focus on the mechanisms and pathways associated with analgesic lipids, such as endocannabinoids, lipid amides, lipoxins and resolvins, and discuss their role in the interaction between nociceptive and immune systems in the context of pain. Primary sensory afferents and their neighboring host-defense cells are a rich source of lipid-derived mediators that contribute to the sensation of pain caused by tissue damage and inflammation. But an increasing number of lipid molecules have been shown to act in an opposite way, to suppress the inflammatory process, restore homeostasis in damaged tissues and attenuate pain sensitivity by regulating neural pathways that transmit nociceptive signals from the periphery of the body to the CNS. Here we review the molecular and cellular mechanisms that contribute to the modulatory actions of lipid mediators in peripheral nociceptive signaling.