AUTHOR=Jonas Robin , Schmelz Martin 

TITLE=Sensitization of supra-threshold pain responses—Translational aspects and mechanisms

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Network Physiology

VOLUME=Volume 2 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/network-physiology/articles/10.3389/fnetp.2022.1078890

DOI=10.3389/fnetp.2022.1078890

ISSN=2674-0109

ABSTRACT=Despite spectacular advances in our understanding of molecular mechanisms of pain, remarkably little has changed with respect to available analgesic approaches for the treatment of pain, leaving a considerable proportion of chronic pain patients poorly treated. This discrepancy may be partially explained by a substantial translational gap in pain research, which is reflected by a mismatch of relevant primary pain assessment endpoints in preclinical vs. clinical trials. In this review, we consider the evidence for a need for supra-threshold pain assessment in the pain research literature. In addition to that, we focus on previous results that may demonstrate an example mechanism, where the detection of neuron-glial interactions on pain seems to be substantially depending on the assessment of pain intensity beyond threshold levels.