Glia, mastociti e affini: nuove prospettive terapeutiche? - Glia, mast cells and related: new therapeutic perspectives?

• Main Author: Guido Orlandini
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Publiediting 2011-07-01
• Series: Pathos
• Subjects: glia; mast cells; nociceptive pain; neuropathic pain; palmitoylethanolamide
• Online Access: https://www.pathos-journal.com/page_44-.html

Glia exerts a pathogenic role in the development and maintenance of pain. In the past, glia was considered only support material; the glia is 70 to 90 percent of the CNS cells. Normally in a resting state, it is activated by substances released from central terminals of C fibers and releases cytokines that enhance excitatory synaptic transmission in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord (that is the basis of central sensitization), with allodynia-hyperalgesia. By analogy with the role of glia, it has been suggested the importance of the mast cell, a connective ubiquitous cell filled with granules that contain histamine, heparin, serotonin, and NGF as well as lipid droplets that contain hyaluronic acid and a cell membrane on which cannabinoid receptors 1 and 2 and vanilloid are located. Nociceptive stimuli cause mast cell degranulation and the release of substances contained in the granules.