title: Rewiring of Developing Spinal Nociceptive Circuits by Neonatal Injury and Its Implications for Pediatric Chronic Pain.
abstract: Significant evidence now suggests that neonatal tissue damage can evoke long-lasting changes in pain sensitivity, but the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms remain unclear. This review highlights recent advances in our understanding of how injuries during a critical period of early life modulate the functional organization of synaptic networks in the superficial dorsal horn (SDH) of the spinal cord in a manner that favors the excessive amplification of ascending nociceptive signaling to the brain, which likely contributes to the generation and/or maintenance of pediatric chronic pain. These persistent alterations in synaptic function within the SDH may also contribute to the well-documented "priming" of developing pain pathways by neonatal tissue injury.
authors.affiliation: Pain Research Center, Department of Anesthesiology, University of Cincinnati Medical Center, 231 Albert Sabin Way, Cincinnati, OH 45267, USA. mark.baccei@uc.edu.
authors.forename: Mark L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Baccei
keywords: GABA; dorsal horn; glutamate; glycine; incision; neonate; pain; rodent; spinal cord; synapse