title: Implication of Hypothalamus in Alleviating Spinal Cord Injury-Induced Neuropathic Pain.
abstract: Neuropathic pain (NP) is common among spinal cord injury (SCI) patients, and there remain clinical difficulties in treating NP due to the lack of understanding of underlying mechanisms. Extracellular proteins, such as matrix metalloproteinase and β-catenin, have been shown to be activated in the spinal cord regions following an injury, and may play a key role in contributing to NP states. While these extracellular proteins have been used as therapeutic targets in the spinal cord, there has also been evidence of up-regulation in the hypothalamus following a SCI. We hypothesize that the hypothalamus is involved in regulating NP following a SCI, and hence should be researched further to determine if it is a viable target for future therapeutic treatments.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, Madison, Wis., USA.
authors.forename: Andrew D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Crowell
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, Madison, Wis., USA.
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: King
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, Madison, Wis., USA.
authors.forename: Annika
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Deitermann
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, Madison, Wis., USA.
authors.forename: Gurwattan S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Miranpuri
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, Madison, Wis., USA.
authors.forename: Daniel K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Resnick
keywords: Extracellular signaling regulated kinase pathway; Hypothalamus; Matrix metalloproteinase; Neuropathic pain; Spinal cord injury; β-Catenin