Inflammation and histone modification in chronic pain

Wei Jiang; Li-Xi Zhang; Xuan-Yu Tan; Peng Yu; Ming Dong

doi:10.3389/fimmu.2022.1087648

Inflammation and histone modification in chronic pain

Front Immunol. 2023 Jan 13:13:1087648. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.1087648. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Wei Jiang¹, Li-Xi Zhang², Xuan-Yu Tan³, Peng Yu⁴, Ming Dong¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neurology and Neuroscience Center, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China.
² Department of Thyroid Surgery, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China.
³ Department of Neurosurgery, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China.
⁴ Department of Ophthalmology, The Second Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China.

Abstract

Increasing evidence suggests that epigenetic mechanisms have great potential in the field of pain. The changes and roles of epigenetics of the spinal cord and dorsal root ganglia in the chronic pain process may provide broad insights for future pain management. Pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines released by microglia and astrocytes, as well as blood-derived macrophages, play critical roles in inducing and maintaining chronic pain, while histone modifications may play an important role in inflammatory metabolism. This review provides an overview of neuroinflammation and chronic pain, and we systematically discuss the regulation of neuroinflammation and histone modifications in the context of chronic pain. Specifically, we analyzed the role of epigenetics in alleviating or exacerbating chronic pain by modulating microglia, astrocytes, and the proinflammatory mediators they release. This review aimed to contribute to the discovery of new therapeutic targets for chronic pain.

Keywords: chronic pain; epigenetic; gene expression; histone modification; inflammation; treatment.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Chronic Pain* / metabolism
Histone Code
Humans
Inflammation / metabolism
Microglia / metabolism
Neuroinflammatory Diseases

Grants and funding

This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 31872772) and the Natural Science Foundation of Jilin Province of China (Grant No. 20200201606JC) to MD.