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Nitric Oxide-Mediated Pain Processing in the Spinal Cord

  • Chapter
Pain Control

Part of the book series: Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology ((HEP,volume 227))

Abstract

A large body of evidence indicates that nitric oxide (NO) plays an important role in the processing of persistent inflammatory and neuropathic pain in the spinal cord. Several animal studies revealed that inhibition or knockout of NO synthesis ameliorates persistent pain. However, spinal delivery of NO donors caused dual pronociceptive and antinociceptive effects, pointing to multiple downstream signaling mechanisms of NO. This review summarizes the localization and function of NO-dependent signaling mechanisms in the spinal cord, taking account of the recent progress made in this field.

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Abbreviations

cGKI:

cGMP-dependent protein kinase I (synonym PKG-1, protein kinase G-1)

cGMP:

3′, 5′-cyclic guanosine monophosphate

CNG:

Cyclic-nucleotide gated

DRG:

Dorsal root ganglion

GC-A:

Particulate guanylyl cyclase A (synonym NPR-A, natriuretic peptide receptor A)

GC-B:

Particulate guanylyl cyclase B (synonym NPR-B, natriuretic peptide receptor B)

HCN:

Hyperpolarization activated and cyclic-nucleotide gated

NO:

Nitric oxide

NO-GC:

NO-sensitive guanylyl cyclase (synonym sGC, soluble guanylyl cyclase)

NOS:

NO synthase

PDE:

Phosphodiesterase

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Acknowledgments

Related work done in the author’s laboratory was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Witten/Herdecke University, and Doktor Robert Pfleger-Stiftung.

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  1. Institut für Pharmakologie und Toxikologie, Universität Witten/Herdecke, ZBAF, Stockumer Str. 10, 58453, Witten, Germany

    Achim Schmidtko

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Correspondence to Achim Schmidtko .

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  1. Institute of Physiology/Neurophysiology, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Thüringen, Germany

    Hans-Georg Schaible

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Schmidtko, A. (2015). Nitric Oxide-Mediated Pain Processing in the Spinal Cord. In: Schaible, HG. (eds) Pain Control. Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology, vol 227. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-46450-2_6

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