Dear Colleagues,

Neuropathic pain arises from damage or disease affecting the somatosensory nervous system. It is a common and debilitating symptom that significantly reduces quality of life, and is often inadequately treated. The pain presents in different forms, including persistent or intermittent sensations of burning, pricking, or squeezing, and can be evoked by a light touch or being cold. The mechanisms underlying neuropathic pain are diverse, involving ectopic nerve activity, compressed nerves or roots, dorsal root ganglia and thalamus, signals spreading to adjacent areas, and peripheral and central sensitization. Sensitization may be caused by structural changes, cell–cell interactions, and molecular signaling alterations, such as ion channel modifications, immune cell activation, glial-mediated processes, and epigenetic regulation.

Various conditions contribute to the onset of neuropathic pain, including metabolic disorders, viral infections, autoimmune disorders, chemotherapy-induced neuropathies, trauma, inflammatory disorders, hereditary neuropathies, and channelopathies. Efforts have been made to enhance therapeutic options for neuropathic pain, utilizing gabapentinoids, tricyclic antidepressants, selective serotonin–norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, lidocaine, capsaicin, tramadol, and botulinum toxin.

Despite advances in understanding these mechanisms and therapies, neuropathic pain remains challenging to comprehend and treat, representing an unmet medical need. The pathophysiology is highly diverse, with numerous molecular mechanisms being involved. Although scientific knowledge is expanding, treatment options have not seen significantly improved, indicating a gap in our understanding of neuropathic pain. Exciting fields of research are emerging, unraveling underlying neural circuits and providing critical insights into new pharmacological and biophysical strategies. Overcoming obstacles in developing targeted therapies and addressing translation challenges between animal and human studies remain goals to be achieved.

We cordially invite you and your colleagues to contribute original research articles and reviews focusing on neuropathic pain's clinical presentation, physiological mechanisms, treatment, prognosis, and prevention. By comprehending the links between neurochemical, inflammatory, and structural mechanisms and specific clinical presentations of neuropathic pain, we can improve rational pain management and significantly advance our understanding of this critical phenomenon.

Dr. Aiman Suleiman
Dr. Maximilian Sebastian Schaefer
Guest Editors

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• neuron
• neuropathic pain
• neuralgia
• nerve damage
• neuropathy
• neural circuit
• nervous system
• sensitization
• channelopathy
• pain