ReviewNeuron2018
Microglia in Pain: Detrimental and Protective Roles in Pathogenesis and Resolution of Pain.
Review in Neuron, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 433 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
433 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 779 citations in OpenAlex.
- The mechanism of different microglial receptors mediating central inflammation in chronic migraine: a meta-analysis.The journal of headache and pain · 2026Pooled it
- Fu's subcutaneous needling for knee osteoarthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Extended Treatment with Micron-Size Oral Palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) in Chronic Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Nutrients · 2024Pooled it
- Effect of electro-thumbtack needles on symptoms during high-altitude exposure: a pilot, single-blind, randomized, controlled study.Journal of traditional Chinese medicine = Chung i tsa chih ying wen pan · 2026Trial
- Addressing Pain Using a Mediterranean Ketogenic Nutrition Program in Older Adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment.Journal of pain research · 2024Trial
- Glial cells in neuropathic pain.Physiological reviews · 2026Review
- Neuroimmune alterations and nociceptive behavior in oral carcinogenesis in rats.European journal of oral sciences · 2026Article
- Peripheral nerve injury induces an immunometabolic signature involving reduced free fatty-acid pools.Metabolic brain disease · 2026Article
- Minocycline inhibits somatic hyperalgesia induced by malocclusion through up-regulating spinal IL-10 expression in female rats.Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 2026Article
- Neuromodulation Techniques Alleviating Neuropathic Pain by Targeting Microglia: A Narrative Review.Pain and therapy · 2026Review
- The Pathophysiological Mechanisms of Glia in Animal Models of Chronic Orofacial Pain: A Systematic Review.Pathophysiology : the official journal of the International Society for Pathophysiology · 2026Review
- Neuroligins and Neuropathic Pain: Insights into Synaptic Plasticity and Pain Transmission.Biology · 2026Review
- IRAK-M attenuates pain hypersensitivity and anxiety-like behaviors in a nitroglycerin-induced chronic migraine mouse model with concomitant reductions in microglial activation and neuroinflammation.The journal of headache and pain · 2026Article
- Aberrant CX3CL1-CX3CR1 Signaling Reprograms Microglial Exosome Secretion via KIFC2 to Drive Cognitive Impairment in Chronic Pain.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Trans-spinal magnetic stimulation upregulates microglial SOCS3 to attenuate neuroinflammation in chronic constriction injury-induced neuropathic pain.Neural regeneration research · 2026Article
- Not All Microbiomes Reflect Chronic Pain: Evidence from the Urinary Tract in a Case-Control Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Gnao1 acts as a gatekeeper to alleviate neuropathic pain by silencing pro-nociceptive signaling cascades.The journal of headache and pain · 2026Article
- A Novel Approach to Neuropathic Pain Treatment: Lactylation Targeting Microglia.Molecular neurobiology · 2026Review
- TGF-β1 modulates PFC glial cell activation to facilitate exercise-induced analgesia in mice with spared nerve injury.IBRO neuroscience reports · 2026Article
- Influence of ginger root extract supplementation on the microbiota-gut-brain axis in individuals with sciatica: Study protocol for a double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized trial.Clinical nutrition ESPEN · 2026Article
373 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
The previous decade has seen a rapid increase in microglial studies on pain, with a unique focus on microgliosis in the spinal cord after nerve injury and neuropathic pain. Numerous signaling molecules are altered in microglia and contribute to the pathogenesis of pain. Here, we discuss how microglial signaling regulates spinal cord synaptic plasticity in acute and chronic pain conditions with different degrees and variations of microgliosis. We highlight that microglial mediators such as pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines are powerful neuromodulators that regulate synaptic transmission and pain via neuron-glial interactions. We also reveal an emerging role of microglia in the resolution of pain, in part via specialized pro-resolving mediators including resolvins, protectins, and maresins. We also discuss a possible role of microglia in chronic itch.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.