Guest guest Posted June 9, 2007 Report Share Posted June 9, 2007 It's no surprise that inflammation can cause pain, but this recent paper suggests that proinflammatory cytokines may do more than provoke pain sensors; they may induce disc cells to produce nerve growth factor (NGF) and that NGF may in turn promote greater innervation of the disc with pain afferents: " NGF may play a role in the collateral sprouting of sensory axons, neural survival, and regulation of nociceptive sensory neurons. NGF is known to be up-regulated by proinflammatory cytokines....Our results demonstrate, for the first time, that human anulus fibrosus and nucleus pulposus cells constitutively express NGF protein and mRNA, and that the proinflammatory cytokines IL-1beta and TNF-alpha stimulate the production of NGF. " http://tinyurl.com/ysc7t5 Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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