In menopause, low estrogen levels are thought to damage bitter taste buds in the mouth, setting off the
surrounding pain neurons.
To explore the idea, he dissected the brains of rats, staining both ipRGCs and pain - signaling neurons to trace their paths.The ipRGCs connect to
pain neurons in the thalamus, he found, suggesting that exposure to light could disturb pain - signaling neurons as well.
«This one - two hit causes the glial cells to explode into action,
making pain neurons go wild.»
As another researcher Professor Linda Watkins explained, the glial cells exploded into action, «making
pain neurons go wild.»
The authors showed that when they blocked DRG
pain neurons from releasing microRNA - 21 in particles, this had an anti-inflammatory effect at a cellular level, which prevented neuropathic pain from occurring in mice.
In humans, a similar method could be applied to
block pain neurons from releasing microRNA - 21 in particles, which would prevent neuropathic pain from ocurring.
The researchers found that in chronic itching, neurons that send itch signals also
co-opt pain neurons to intensify the itch sensation.
Essentially, the fiery capsaicin triggers
certain pain neurons, making the brain think that there is actually something burning the body and causing it to trigger reactions designed to cool things down.17
They found that after nerve injury,
pain neurons in this area released very small biological particles containing microRNA - 21.
The dilated vessels then prompted
the pain neurons to fire again.
The model showed that the sodium channels 1.6 in the feeling sensory neurons were blocked with 670 microamperes, but
the pain neuron's sodium channels 1.7 were blocked at only 290 microamperes.
«We also found that because
the pain neurons take longer to come back on line, we may be able to conserve energy and not have to deliver this electrical current constantly to keep them blocked.»