Title:Interleukin-17: A Putative Novel Pharmacological Target for Pathological
Pain
Volume: 22
Issue: 2
Author(s): Shao-Jie Gao, Lin Liu, Dan-Yang Li, Dai-Qiang Liu, Long-Qing Zhang, Jia-Yi Wu, Fan-He Song, Ya-Qun Zhou*Wei Mei*
Affiliation:
- Department of Anesthesiology, Hubei Key Laboratory of Geriatric Anesthesia and Perioperative Brain Health, and
Wuhan Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Anesthesia, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University
of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, China
- Department of Anesthesiology, Hubei Key Laboratory of Geriatric Anesthesia and Perioperative Brain Health, and
Wuhan Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Anesthesia, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University
of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, China
Keywords:
Interleukin-17, bone cancer pain, neuropathic pain, inflammatory pain, peripheral mechanisms, central mechanisms.
Abstract: Pathological pain imposes a huge burden on the economy and the lives of patients. At present,
drugs used for the treatment of pathological pain have only modest efficacy and are also plagued
by adverse effects and risk for misuse and abuse. Therefore, understanding the mechanisms of pathological
pain is essential for the development of novel analgesics. Several lines of evidence indicate that
interleukin-17 (IL-17) is upregulated in rodent models of pathological pain in the periphery and central
nervous system. Besides, the administration of IL-17 antibody alleviated pathological pain. Moreover,
IL-17 administration led to mechanical allodynia which was alleviated by the IL-17 antibody. In this
review, we summarized and discussed the therapeutic potential of targeting IL-17 for pathological
pain. The upregulation of IL-17 promoted the development of pathological pain by promoting neuroinflammation,
enhancing the excitability of dorsal root ganglion neurons, and promoting the communication
of glial cells and neurons in the spinal cord. In general, the existing research shows that IL-17 is
an attractive therapeutic target for pathologic pain, but the underlying mechanisms still need to be investigated.