Brain, Vol. 123, No. 6, 1283,
June 2000
© 2000 Oxford University Press
Book reviews |
PAIN AND NEUROGENIC INFLAMMATION.
.
Division of Neuroscience and Psychological Medicine, Imperial College School of Medicine, Hammersmith Hospital, London, UK
When the neurochemist lifted the lid on nociceptors in the 1980s, out of the Pandora's box flew a host of active substances, which at first produced astonishment, and then perplexity. The discovery of co-existence of classical neurotransmitters and different neuropeptides within sensory neurones paralleled evidence that these neuropeptides, when released from peripheral terminals, contributed to inflammation, and when released from central terminals, to CNS hypersensitivity and pain. Inflammation itself activated sensory nerve endings and regulated sensory neuropeptides, via cytokines and nerve growth factors, and the circle was complete. This is a timely book that brings together these lines of discovery in a series of reviews by distinguished contributors.
The initial chapters concentrate on pain mechanisms and their activation by cytokines and growth factors. Later chapters look at the effect of neuropeptides, especially substance P and CGRP, on inflammation in target tissues. Finally, there are chapters that take the reader on a roller-coaster familiar to those who have followed the neurokinin antagonist story with respect to animal models and clinical trials. The neurologist will be particularly interested in the chapters on capsaicin and pain mechanisms, the regulation of meningeal blood flow by neuropeptides and its relevance to migraine, and tachykinin antagonists as clinically effective analgesics.
The strength of this book is that each chapter is authoritative, and could stand alone. If there is a criticism, it is the lack of an overview of the principles and mechanisms under discussion, that may draw from the individual chapters. The short introduction and the full index do not fulfil this role adequately.
This book describes the state of the art. It deserves a place within clinical neurosciences libraries, and on the shelves of researchers in the field.
Notes
Edited by S. D. Brain and P. K. Moore. 1999. Basel: Birkhauser Verlag. Price DM 258. Pp. 344. ISBN 3-7643-5875-0.
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||