New targets for analgesic drug development

摘要

Acute pain or nociception is beneficial in that it serves to warn animals of imminent tissue injury. More persistent pain or hyperalgesia(i.e. increased sensitivity to pain) is associated with tissue inflammation and may also have protective value. However, when pain outlives its physiological "protectiveness" it can be debilitating and destructive. Pain which persists (i.e. chronic pain), and leads to pathophysiological changes and injurious behavior, demands our attention and intervention.