Spontaneous activity in peripheral sensory nerves – a systematic review
bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
Abstract
Abstract In the peripheral nervous system, spontaneous activity in sensory neurons is considered to be one of the two main drivers of chronic pain states, alongside neuronal sensitization. Despite this, the precise nature and timing of this spontaneous activity in neuropathic pain is not well-established. Here, we have carried out a systematic search and data extraction of existing electrophysiological literature to shed light on which fibre types have been shown to maintain spontaneous activity and over what time frame. We examined both in vivo recordings of pre-clinical models of neuropathic pain, as well as microneurography recordings in humans. Our analyses reveal that there is broad agreement on the presence of spontaneous activity in neuropathic pain conditions, even months after injury or years after onset of neuropathic symptoms in humans. However, due to the highly specialised nature of the electrophysiological methods used to measure spontaneous activity, there is also a high degree of variability and uncertainty around these results. Specifically, there are very few directly controlled experiments, with little directly comparable data between human and animals. Given that spontaneous peripheral neuron activity is considered to be a key mechanistic feature of chronic pain conditions, it may be beneficial to conduct further experiments in this space.
Authors 5
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Affiliation as printed
Wolfson Centre for Age-Related Diseases, Guy’s Campus, King’s College London
Wolfson Centre for Age-Related Diseases, Guy's Campus, King's College London
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Affiliation as printed
Metrion Biosciences Ltd, Building 2 Granta Centre, Granta Park, Cambridge CB21 6AL
Metrion Biosciences Ltd, Building Granta Centre, Granta Park, Cambridge CB1 6AL
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Imperial College London · Chelsea and Westminster Hospital
Affiliation as printed
Imperial College London, Pain Research Group, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, 369 Fulham Road, London, SW10 9NH
Imperial College London, Pain Research Group, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, 69 Fulham Road, London, SW10 9NH
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Barbara Namer Aachen Institute for Neurophysiology Research Group Neuroscience of the Interdisziplinary Center for Clinical Research
RWTH Aachen University · Universitätsklinikum Aachen
Affiliation as printed
Institute for Neurophysiology, University Hospital of the RWTH Aachen, Aachen, Germany
Research group Neuroscience of the Interdisziplinary Center for Clinical research, University Hospital of the RWTH Aachen, Aachen, Germany
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Franziska Denk corresponding
Affiliation as printed
Wolfson Centre for Age-Related Diseases, Guy’s Campus, King’s College London
Wolfson Centre for Age-Related Diseases, Guy's Campus, King's College London
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