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Pain is the most frequent cause triggering patients to visit a physician. The worldwide incidence of chronic pain is in the range of 20% of adults, and chronic pain conditions are frequently associated with several comorbidities and a drastic decrease in patients’ quality of life. Although several approved analgesics are available, such therapy is often not satisfying due to insufficient efficacy and/or severe side effects. Therefore, novel strategies for the development of safe and highly efficacious pain killers are urgently needed. To reach this goal, it is necessary to clarify the causes and signal transduction cascades underlying the onset and progression of the different types of chronic pain. The papers in this Special Issue cover a wide variety of mechanisms involved in different pain types such as inflammatory, neuropathic or cancer pain. Therefore, the results summarized here might contribute to a better understanding of the mechanisms in chronic pain and thereby to the development of novel therapeutic strategies for pain patients.
The processing of pain undergoes several changes in aging that affect sensory nociceptive fibers and the endogenous neuronal inhibitory systems. So far, it is not completely clear whether age-induced modifications are associated with an increase or decrease in pain perception. In this study, we assessed the impact of age on inflammatory nociception in mice and the role of the hormonal inhibitory systems in this context. We investigated the nociceptive behavior of 12-month-old versus 6–8-week-old mice in two behavioral models of inflammatory nociception. Levels of TRP channels, and cortisol as well as cortisol targets, were measured by qPCR, ELISA, and Western blot in the differently aged mice. We observed an age-related reduction in nociceptive behavior during inflammation as well as a higher level of cortisol in the spinal cord of aged mice compared to young mice, while TRP channels were not reduced. Among potential cortisol targets, the NF-κB inhibitor protein alpha (IκBα) was increased, which might contribute to inhibition of NF-κB and a decreased expression and activity of the inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS). In conclusion, our results reveal a reduced nociceptive response in aged mice, which might be at least partially mediated by an augmented inflammation-induced increase in the hormonal inhibitory system involving cortisol.
Interleukin (IL)-10 and IL-22 are key members of the IL-10 cytokine family that share characteristic properties such as defined structural features, usage of IL-10R2 as one receptor chain, and activation of signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT)-3 as dominant signaling mode. IL-10, formerly known as cytokine synthesis inhibitory factor, is key to deactivation of monocytes/macrophages and dendritic cells. Accordingly, pre-clinical studies document its anti-inflammatory capacity. However, the outcome of clinical trials assessing the therapeutic potential of IL-10 in prototypic inflammatory disorders has been disappointing. In contrast to IL-10, IL-22 acts primarily on non-leukocytic cells, in particular epithelial cells of intestine, skin, liver, and lung. STAT3-driven proliferation, anti-apoptosis, and anti-microbial tissue protection is regarded a principal function of IL-22 at host/environment interfaces. In this hypothesis article, hidden/underappreciated pro-inflammatory characteristics of IL-10 and IL-22 are outlined and related to cellular priming by type I interferon. It is tempting to speculate that an inherent inflammatory potential of IL-10 and IL-22 confines their usage in tissue protective therapy and beyond that determines in some patients efficacy of type I interferon treatment.