The development of new therapeutic approaches to the treatment of painful neuropathies
requires a better understanding of the mechanisms that underlie the development of these
chronic pain syndromes. It is now well established that astrocytic and microglial cells
modulate the neuronal mechanisms of chronic pain in spinal cord and possibly in the brain.
In animal models of neuropathic pain following peripheral nerve injury, several changes
occur at the level of the first pain synapse between the central terminals of sensory neurons …