Kenyon-Pain Flashcards
T/F Effective analgesic therapy improves quality of life.
TRUE!! Chronic/neuropathic pain particularly difficult to understand, though.
What are some examples of analgesic therapy?
Opiod analgesics
COX-2 Inhibitors
Adjuvant Analgesics
What percentage of patients receive adequate pain relief from neuropathic pain?
only 1/3
T/F Pain is in your head.
true.
Most studies of pain have been done in rodents. However, rodents lack certain structures. Which structures are they?
insular cortex
midline thalamic nuclei
lesion of the ventromedial nucleus of the thalamus or insula can cause what?
complete and permanent loss of contralateral pain and temperature sensation
Aside from verbal pain scales…what is some promising research that will help scale a patient’s level of pain?
fMRI
What are nociceptors?
A special class of primary afferent neurons with their cell bodies in the dorsal root ganglia these are the pain guys!
Which fibers make up nociceptors? Are they large or small?
They are small in diameter.
C & Adelta fibers make up nociceptors.
**therapeutic target to kill these fibers.
Capsaicin triggers which receptors?
TRPV1–noxious heat sensors
What is TRPM8 a receptor for?
cold sensors
What is TRPA1 a receptor for?
a subset of nociceptors
Explain what weird pathological thing can cause there to be a synapse in the DRG.
This can happen w/ an injured postganglionic sympathetic neuron. It will synapse in the DRG of a sensory neuron instead! This preganglionic sympathetic activity will cause pain.
Which has a lower threshold:
Nociceptors or Thermoreceptors?
Temp has a lower threshold.
Takes a pretty high temp before it becomes painful & nociceptors get involved.
When you hit your thumb with a hammer you feel a first pain & then a second pain a little while later…what is responsible for each pain wave?
First Pain: Adelta
Second Pain: C fibers
How fast do A delta fibers conduct? Which type of stimuli does it respond to?
pretty slow…def slower than TVP but faster than C fibers
**these are mainly mechanothermal sensitive
How fast do C fibers conduct? What are some of its characteristics? Which type of stimuli does it respond to?
slowly
they are unmyelinated
they are polymodal–respond to different kinds of painful stimuli
What is one of the main ion channel families under research that respond to nociceptors?
TRP
- *transient receptor potential
- *involved in temp & pain sensation among other things
What are the important characteristics of TRPV1?
These are capsaicin receptors. They also respond to a low pH & heat.
They are considered nonselective cation channels.
help with sensitivity to noxious stimuli
What are some things that regulate TRPV1?
intracellular calcium
kinases lipids
AND MORE
It is VERY regulated.
TRPV1 receptors are activated by capsaicin…but what is another weird response they have to capsaicin?
they can also be inactivated by it.
What is the mechanism by which capsaicin activates TRPV1?
capsaicin is lipid soluble so it goes across the membrane & binds the channel from the inside.
T/F Itch & pain are the same sensations.
False. They are different.
What is the basic way that itch works?
specific pruritic ligands carrying itch & pain info are selectively recognized by different GPCRs