Glia, mast cells and related: new therapeutic perspectives?

Glia exerts a pathogenic role in the development and maintenance of pain. In the past, glia was considered only support material; the glia is 70 to 90 percent of the CNS cells.Normally in a resting state, it is activated by substances released from central terminals of C fibers and releases cytokines that enhanceexcitatory synaptic transmission in the dorsal horn of the spinalcord (that is the basis of central sensitization), with allodyniahyperalgesia.By analogy with the role of glia, it has been suggested the importanceof the mast cell, a connective ubiquitous cell fi lled with granules that contain histamine, heparin, serotonin, and NGF as well as lipid droplets that contain hyaluronic acid and a cell membrane on whichcannabinoid receptors 1 and 2 and vanilloid are located.Nociceptive stimuli cause mast cell degranulation and the release of substances contained in the granules.