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Researchers scratch at nerve cells for itchiness
Source: Agencies |
August 8, 2009, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
RESEARCHERS have found specific nerve cells responsible for itchiness, a discovery that could lead to better treatments for skin conditions.
Experiments on mice show they have nerve cells that convey only an itch sensation - contradicting wisdom that itch and pain are related.
Reporting in the journal Science, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis and Peking University Third Hospital in Beijing said they created itch-free mice by killing their itch-specific neurons.
"This finding has very important therapeutic implications," Washington University's Zhou-Feng Chen, who led the study, said in a statement.
"We've shown that particular neurons are critical for the itching sensation but not for pain, which means those cells may contain several itch-specific receptors or signaling molecules that can be explored or identified as targets for future treatment or management of chronic itching."
Eczema, psoriasis, allergies, infections and other conditions can cause chronic itching and various treatments are often only partially effective.
First itch gene
In 2007 the researchers identified the first itch gene called gastrin-releasing peptide receptor, or GRPR. It was active in the spinal cord.
"But the identification of an itch receptor in spinal-cord neurons didn't mean those neurons were itch-specific because it was possible that they also could have pain-related genes," Chen said.
So they destroyed nerve cells that had active GRPR.
When the mice then were exposed to things that caused itching, they did not scratch. But they felt pain.
"This is a very striking and unexpected result because it suggests there is an itch-specific neuronal pathway in the spinal cord," Chen said. "We still have a lot of questions, and we are very interested to find more answers."
Experiments on mice show they have nerve cells that convey only an itch sensation - contradicting wisdom that itch and pain are related.
Reporting in the journal Science, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis and Peking University Third Hospital in Beijing said they created itch-free mice by killing their itch-specific neurons.
"This finding has very important therapeutic implications," Washington University's Zhou-Feng Chen, who led the study, said in a statement.
"We've shown that particular neurons are critical for the itching sensation but not for pain, which means those cells may contain several itch-specific receptors or signaling molecules that can be explored or identified as targets for future treatment or management of chronic itching."
Eczema, psoriasis, allergies, infections and other conditions can cause chronic itching and various treatments are often only partially effective.
First itch gene
In 2007 the researchers identified the first itch gene called gastrin-releasing peptide receptor, or GRPR. It was active in the spinal cord.
"But the identification of an itch receptor in spinal-cord neurons didn't mean those neurons were itch-specific because it was possible that they also could have pain-related genes," Chen said.
So they destroyed nerve cells that had active GRPR.
When the mice then were exposed to things that caused itching, they did not scratch. But they felt pain.
"This is a very striking and unexpected result because it suggests there is an itch-specific neuronal pathway in the spinal cord," Chen said. "We still have a lot of questions, and we are very interested to find more answers."
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