REVIEW article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Autoimmune and Autoinflammatory Disorders : Autoimmune Disorders
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1642141
This article is part of the Research TopicImmune regulatory networks in the skin during normal and aberrant immunological responses: mechanisms, modulation, and therapeutic targetsView all 5 articles
Immune Cells, Cytokines, Chemokines, and Neuronal Receptors in Itch: A Skin-to-Dorsal Root Ganglion Dialogue
Provisionally accepted
- 1Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
- 2First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
- 3The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
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Pruritus arises from complex interactions between cutaneous immune cells and sensory neurons, with the skin-DRG axis representing a central pathogenic mechanism. A variety of immune cells—including eosinophils, mast cells, Th2 cells, macrophages, neutrophils, dendritic cells, γδ T cells, and keratinocytes—participate in the modulation of itch by secreting pruritogenic mediators. Specifically, cytokines such as IL-3, IL-4, IL-13, IL-20, IL-31, IL-33, OSM, and TSLP, as well as chemokines including CCL2, CXCL10, and CCL7, bind to their corresponding receptors on DRG neurons, thereby enhancing pruritic signaling. Furthermore, receptors associated with pruriception, such as Mrgprs, TRPV1, TRPA1, PAR1, and PAR2, are critically involved in the transmission of itch signals. Collectively, these immune cells, cytokines, chemokines, and receptors constitute a neural-immune circuit through the skin-DRG axis. This review integrates the mechanistic interactions among these components and assesses targeted therapeutic approaches, providing a comprehensive framework for understanding chronic pruritus.
Keywords: Allergic systemic diseases, Pruritus, Peripheral mechanism, immune cells, Signal pathway
Received: 06 Jun 2025; Accepted: 23 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Chen, Liang, Nong, Chen, Wang, TAO and Liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Ailin TAO, taoailin@gzhmu.edu.cn
Xueting Liu, liuxueting@gzhmu.edu.cn
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