科学家们在老鼠身上找到了一种缓解慢性神经性疼痛的新方法
人类的神经性疼痛是一种与以下疾病相关的慢性疼痛 神经 损坏像 神经病. 这是非常难以治疗的慢性类型 疼痛 which is commonly seen in 神经 trauma, chemotherapy and diabetes. 痛苦在于为 1 型糖尿病患者提供口服胰岛素：在 Pigsooting 中试验成功，并且强烈和/或导致麻木或感觉丧失的感觉。疼痛通常伴随着受伤、手术、疾病或感染，并且可以持续或随机发生，强度不断变化，并且在某些患者中疼痛可能逐渐好转或恶化。
难以治疗的神经性疼痛的原因
The human nervous system is composed of a complex collection of 神经 and dedicated cells called neurons which transmit signals from the brain to different parts of the body. 神经 由称为轴突的神经纤维束组成。 神经性疼痛 in humans is caused due to partially damaged axons of a 神经. In animals when a peripheral 神经 gets crushed, it gets damaged completely and damaged axons then allow for growth of healthy axons inside the 神经. This doesn’t happen in humans and that is why the chronic neuropathic pain lingers on. Managing chronic pain is very challenging and requires multitude of efforts to make it seem tolerable while maintaining normal body functions. Only very few patients get relief from this pain with use of a single drug as diagnosis of neuropathic pain is never down to only one cause. Pain relievers, topical treatments and physical therapy are advised but in most of thecases they are unable to break the cycle of chronic 疼痛.
寻找治疗神经性疼痛的方法
Since it is established that the key reason for neuropathic pain in humans is partially damaged axons inside 神经, it would be imperative to explore this particular aspect. In a new study published in 手机, researchers aimed to understand the role of our immune cells in breaking down our damaged (partially or otherwise) 神经. They looked at an immune cell called natural killer or NK which can cut axons from neurons in a petri dish in the laboratory. These NK cells are a part of our body’s innate immunity via which our immune system protects us from viruses and cancer.It was seen that disassociated neurons expressed a protein called RAE1 which then invites NK cells to target the neurons.So, once neurons were grown along with activated NK cells, these cells started breaking down the injured/partially damaged nerves by eating away the axons but, without destroying their cell bodies. So here was a potential possibility to grow new healthy axons in place of damaged ones.
目前的实验是在活体小鼠中进行的，首先增加NK细胞的功能，然后挤压小鼠腿部的坐骨神经。 在很短的时间内，免疫刺激的小鼠在其受影响的爪子中表现出降低的敏感性。 一段时间后，科学家记录到受影响的神经元开始产生一种蛋白质，然后使神经元容易受到 NK 细胞的攻击。 NK 细胞立即做出反应，到达神经并删除受损的轴突。 一旦这些受损的轴突被清除，健康的轴突就开始在它们的位置上生长。 大约两周后，老鼠的受影响的爪子恢复了知觉。 未接受任何免疫刺激以增加其 NK 细胞的对照组小鼠也在相似的时间间隔内恢复。 但关键是，由于对照组小鼠受损的轴突没有被切除，它们在受伤后近一个月内仍持续承受着触摸引起的慢性疼痛。
该实验在动物模型中取得了成功，研究人员相信在人类发生神经性疼痛期间也可以设想类似的情况。 人类部分受损的神经继续向大脑发送信号，并在忍受第一次疼痛后很久就会引起慢性疼痛和过敏。 可以在人类中设计一种方法，该方法可以类似地调节 NK 细胞功能并清除所有部分或完全受损的轴突，随后允许健康的轴突生长。 从目前对小鼠的研究中可以看出，这可以有效地治疗神经性疼痛。 了解 NK 细胞在轴索变性中的关键作用对于设计人类慢性神经性疼痛的治疗方法非常重要。
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来源（S）
戴维斯 AJ 等。 2019. 自然杀伤细胞在神经损伤后退化完整的感觉传入。 手机. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2018.12.022
