Home / Health / Chemo Pain: Brain Pathway Uncovered
Chemo Pain: Brain Pathway Uncovered
24 Aug
Summary
- Scientists identified a brain pathway linked to cold pain post-chemotherapy.
- This pathway strengthens communication after chemotherapy nerve damage.
- Manipulating the pathway reduced or increased cold-induced pain responses.
Researchers have pinpointed a neural pathway in the brain that contributes to cold allodynia, a condition causing pain from cold after chemotherapy. This discovery was made by scientists at IISc and CHINTA, collaborating with Washington University School of Medicine.
The study focused on a circuit connecting the lateral parabrachial nucleus (LPBN) to the parafascicular nucleus (PF). Following chemotherapy with drugs like oxaliplatin, which can damage peripheral nerves, communication along this LPBN-PF pathway was observed to strengthen.
Experiments revealed that activating this pathway intensified cold-induced pain behaviors in mice, suggesting its role in both the physical sensation and emotional response to pain. Conversely, suppressing the pathway reduced these pain behaviors.
These findings indicate the LPBN-PF circuit acts as a critical link between pain signals and the brain's reaction to them. Further research is recommended to explore this circuit's involvement in other types of nerve injury and pain.
