Nirva Institute · Astrocytes · Disease & Medicine
Astrocytes and Chronic Pain
Non-neuronal amplifiers of persistent pain.
Chronic pain frequently outlives the tissue injury that initiated it. Astrocyte and microglial responses in the spinal cord and brain are increasingly implicated in this persistence.
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Astrocyte reactivity in the pain pathway
Reactive astrocytes in the spinal dorsal horn contribute to central sensitisation and the maintenance of chronic pain.204
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Therapeutic implications
Targeting astrocyte reactivity is a promising strategy for chronic pain, though translation to patients remains early.
Scientific References
Primary literature
AMA numeric style. Citation numbers are unified across the Nirva Life ecosystem — the same number refers to the same reference across every library article. Full registry is anchored in the Cornerstone Paper.
- 190.Escartin C, Galea E, Lakatos A, et al. Reactive astrocyte nomenclature, definitions, and future directions. Nat Neurosci. 2021;24(3):312-325. PubMed ↗
- 204.Ji RR, Donnelly CR, Nedergaard M. Astrocytes in chronic pain and itch. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2019;20(11):667-685. PubMed ↗
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