Pharmacotherapy for Neuropathic Pain

Dear Colleagues,

Neuropathic pain affects 7–10% of adults worldwide and tends to be more prevalent in the elderly population and in women. Despite effort exerted towards the development of new treatments, current therapy for neuropathic pain is still a clinical challenge, and the combination of two or more drugs is often needed to improve efficacy. Furthermore, the commonly used drugs are only symptomatic and do not prevent the progression of this chronic condition. Neuropathies are chronic conditions associated with pain, but they also involve the onset of long-term comorbidities such as anxiety, depression, insomnia, and loss of cognitive ability. Neuroinflammation has been reported as one of the key factors triggering chronic pain; thus, the pivotal role of glial cells in the induction, maintenance, and development of inflammatory processes and how these can drastically affect the conditions of the surrounding environment have been heavily focused on in the recent scientific literature. Indeed, the production of inflammatory factors is capable of damaging normal neuronal activity, which results in altered physiological function. Therefore, a stressful correlation between neuroinflammation, demyelination, and degeneration is observed in central and peripheral neuropathies. Restoring normal physiological conditions in the nervous environment through the modulation of specific pharmacological targets is necessary to prevent the progression of this pathology.

The aim of this Special Issue is to collect studies concerning innovative therapies for the treatment of neuropathic pain of both central and peripheral origin, thus highlighting possible new therapeutical approaches to develop more effective, safe, and personalized therapies.

Dr. Vittoria Borgonetti
Dr. Nicoletta Galeotti
Guest Editors

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• neuropathic pain
• neuroinflammation
• pharmacology
• microglia
• astrocytes
• allodynia
• hyperalgesia
• personalized therapy
• chronic pain
• sex differences