MINI REVIEW article
Front. Pain Res.
Sec. Neuropathic Pain
Volume 6 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpain.2025.1653186
The analgesic effect of green light on neuropathic pain: A mini-review of the literature and a proposal for future work
Provisionally accepted
- 1Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, China
- 2Xi'an City First Hospital, Xi'an, China
- 3Ya'an Polytechnic College, Chengdu, China
- 4Chinese People's Liberation Army Western Theater General Hospital, Chengdu, China
- 5Department of Central Laboratory, Western Theater General Hospital, Chengdu, China
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Medically refractory, unrelenting severe neuropathic pain remains a public health challenge worldwide. Green light has been found to have an analgesic effect on neuropathic pain. Interestingly, the analgesic effect is prolonged even after exposure to green light. Peripheral and central mechanisms include the inhibition of the inflammatory response and the activation of the endogenous cannabinoid system and nerve circuits between the lateral geniculate nucleus and other brain regions, such as the dorsal raphe nucleus and the rostral ventromedial medulla, which might mediate the analgesic effect of green light. An increasing number of clinical studies highlight the side effects of traditional analgesics. The antinociceptive effect of green light has been proven in fibromyalgia and migraine patients. However, the effect of light green on neuropathic pain has not been reported in the clinic. Here, the cellular and molecular mechanisms of the antinociceptive effect of green light are reviewed. Furthermore, the green light parameters (intensity, duration, and wavelength) used in clinical trials are also summarized.
Keywords: neuropathic pain, Green light, Ventral lateral geniculate nucleus, Analgesic effect, Neuronal Plasticity
Received: 24 Jun 2025; Accepted: 13 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Dai, Zhang, Gu, Zhu, Leng, Ma and Zhang. 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:
Lijie Ma, Chinese People's Liberation Army Western Theater General Hospital, Chengdu, China
Ming Zhang, Department of Central Laboratory, Western Theater General Hospital, Chengdu, China
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