Genetic architecture of human pain perception.
Journal Article (Journal Article;Review)
Pain is emotionally detrimental and consciously avoided; however, it is absolutely crucial for our survival. Pain perception is one of the most complicated measurable traits because it is an aggregate of several phenotypes associated with peripheral and central nervous system dynamics, stress responsiveness and inflammatory state. As a complex trait, it is expected to have a polygenic nature shaped by environmental pressures. Here we discuss what is known about these contributing genetic variants, including recent discoveries that show a crucial role of voltage-gated sodium channel Nav1.7 in pain perception and how we can advance our understanding of the pain genetic network. We propose how both rare deleterious genetic variants and common genetic polymorphisms are mediators of human pain perception and clinical pain phenotypes.
Full Text
Duke Authors
Cited Authors
- Diatchenko, L; Nackley, AG; Tchivileva, IE; Shabalina, SA; Maixner, W
Published Date
- December 2007
Published In
Volume / Issue
- 23 / 12
Start / End Page
- 605 - 613
PubMed ID
- 18023497
Pubmed Central ID
- 18023497
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
- 0168-9525
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
- 10.1016/j.tig.2007.09.004
Language
- eng
Conference Location
- England