What Caught Your Eye This Year? PRF’s Top News Stories and Papers of the Week for 2015
As we head into a new year, it’s a good time to look back at the research that kept the attention of PRF readers over the past year. Using Google Analytics to measure page views, we’ve come up with two top 10 lists—the most viewed PRF news stories, and the most viewed Papers of the Week, that were published in 2015.
The most popular news story from the past year described research, published in Neuron, on the connection between pain and anxiety in the brain. Researchers led by Min Zhuo, University of Toronto, Canada, identified two forms of long-term potentiation (LTP) in the anterior cingulate cortex as the mediators of this link. Interestingly, another paper on the chronic pain-anxiety association—this time looking at another brain region, the prelimbic cortex—also made the top 10.
The number 1 spot in the top 10 Papers of the Week belongs to a Lancet Neurology systematic review and meta-analysis of drug treatments for neuropathic pain. Notably, had we considered all papers rather than only those published in 2015, Melzack and Wall’s 1965 Science paper introducing the gate theory of pain would have grabbed the number 9 spot; considering that 2015 was the 50th anniversary of that seminal publication, this outcome could not be more fitting. With so much new and interesting research published each month in the pain field, it’s notable that the classic papers sometimes still receive the attention they deserve.
Here are the full lists:
Top 10 PRF News Stories in 2015 (1 Jan 2015–21 Dec 2015):
1. Synaptic Mechanism May Link Pain, Anxiety in Brain
Novel form of plasticity in the anterior cingulate cortex could provide target for treatment
21 Jan 2015
2. Biogen Idec Announces Plans to Buy Nav1.7 Program
Convergence Pharmaceuticals’ pain candidate gets vote of confidence
26 Jan 2015
3. Prelimbic Circuitry Links Chronic Pain and Anxiety
Deactivation of a specific prefrontal neuron population via kinase signaling underlies the connection
25 Aug 2015
4. PET Scans Provide First Evidence for Glial Activation in Brain in Chronic Pain Patients
Tracer lights up thalamus in people with lower back pain
20 Jan 2015
5. Glycinergic Inhibitory Interneurons in the Spinal Cord “Gate” Pain
Mouse study reveals the cells have universal effect on nociception
30 Mar 2015
6. The Origins of Migraine: Inside or Outside the Brain?
Neuropeptide PACAP-38 triggers sensitization of central trigeminovascular neurons in rats, but both peripheral and central mechanisms likely contribute to the condition
4 Nov 2015
7. The Future of Epigenetics in Pain Research
A recent PRF webinar highlighted the relevance of epigenetics to understanding chronic pain mechanisms and vulnerability and developing new analgesics
13 May 2015
8. Descending Dopaminergic Inputs to Spinal Cord Maintain Pain Plasticity
D1/D5 receptor signaling regulates maintenance of pain memory trace
18 May 2015
9. Crosstalk Between Pain and Opioid Analgesia Signaling Pathways Identified
Pro-nociceptive neurokinin 1 receptor signaling enhances mu-opioid receptor recycling
3 Apr 2015
10. Cortical Dendrites: A New Site for Chronic Pain Plasticity
Serotonin emerges as pain neuromodulator in anterior cingulate cortex
8 Apr 2015
Top 10 Papers of the Week in 2015 (1 Jan 2015–21 Dec 2015):
1. Pharmacotherapy for neuropathic pain in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Finnerup NB, Attal N, Haroutounian S, McNicol E, Baron R, Dworkin RH, Gilron I, Haanpää M, Hansson P, Jensen TS, Kamerman PR, Lund K, Moore A, Raja SN, Rice ASC, Rowbotham M, Sena E, Siddall P, Smith BH, Wallace M
Lancet Neurol. 2015 Feb; 14(2):162-73.
2. The Nav1.9 channel is a key determinant of cold pain sensation and cold allodynia.
Lolignier S, Bonnet C, Gaudioso C, Noël J, Ruel J, Amsalem M, Ferrier J, Rodat-Despoix L, Bouvier V, Aissouni Y, Prival L, Chapuy E, Padilla F, Eschalier A, Delmas P, Busserolles J
Cell Rep. 2015 May 19; 11(7):1067-78.
Araldi D, Ferrari LF, Levine JD
J Neurosci. 2015 Sep 9; 35(36):12502-17.
Martikainen IK, Nuechterlein EB, Peciña M, Love TM, Cummiford CM, Green CR, Stohler CS, Zubieta JK
J Neurosci. 2015 Jul 8; 35(27):9957-65.
5. Dorsal horn circuits for persistent mechanical pain.
Peirs C, Williams S-PG, Zhao X, Walsh CE, Gedeon JY, Cagle NE, Goldring AC, Hioki H, Liu Z, Marell PS, Seal RP
Neuron. 2015 Aug 19; 87(4):797-812.
6. Evidence for brain glial activation in chronic pain patients.
Loggia ML, Chonde DB, Akeju O, Arabasz G, Catana C, Edwards RR, Hill E, Hsu S, Izquierdo-Garcia D, Ji R-R, Riley M, Wasan AD, Zürcher NR, Albrecht DS, Vangel MG, Rosen BR, Napadow V, Hooker JM
Brain. 2015 Mar; 138(Pt 3):604-15.
7. Structure of the TRPA1 ion channel suggests regulatory mechanisms.
Paulsen CE, Armache J-P, Gao Y, Cheng Y, Julius D
Nature. 2015 Apr 23; 520(7548):511-7.
8. Selective activation of microglia facilitates synaptic strength.
Clark AK, Gruber-Schoffnegger D, Drdla-Schutting R, Gerhold KJ, Malcangio M, Sandkühler J
J Neurosci. 2015 Mar 18; 35(11):4552-70.
9. Pain-enhancing mechanism through interaction between TRPV1 and anoctamin 1 in sensory neurons.
Takayama Y, Uta D, Furue H, Tominaga M
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2015 Apr 21; 112(16):5213-5218.
10. Inhibition of mechanical allodynia in neuropathic pain by TLR5-mediated A-fiber blockade.
Xu Z-Z, Kim Y H, Bang S, Zhang Y, Berta T, Wang F, Oh S B, Ji R-R
Nat Med. 2015 Nov; 21(11):1326-31.
Image credit: coonlight/123RF Stock Photo
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