Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32694973›Full record

ReviewFrontiers in neuroscience2020

Kynurenine and Tetrahydrobiopterin Pathways Crosstalk in Pain Hypersensitivity.

Ananda Staats Pires, Vanessa X Tan, Benjamin Heng, Gilles J Guillemin, Alexandra Latini

Open access · goldAbstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Frontiers in neuroscience, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
31citing papers in PubMed
3.3field-weighted citation impact, top 7% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

31 citing papers in PubMed, 41 citations in OpenAlex.

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  6. Cross-species RNAi therapy via AAV delivery alleviates neuropathic pain by targeting GCH1.Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Ananda Staats PiresNeuroinflammation Group, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Centre for Motor Neuron Disease Research, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Vanessa X TanNeuroinflammation Group, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Centre for Motor Neuron Disease Research, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Benjamin HengNeuroinflammation Group, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Centre for Motor Neuron Disease Research, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Gilles J GuilleminNeuroinflammation Group, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Centre for Motor Neuron Disease Research, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Alexandra LatiniLaboratório de Bioenergética e Estresse Oxidativo, Departamento de Bioquímica, Centro de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil.
Macquarie University · AUUniversidade Federal de Santa Catarina · BR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Despite the identification of molecular mechanisms associated with pain persistence, no significant therapeutic improvements have been made. Advances in the understanding of the molecular mechanisms that induce pain hypersensitivity will allow the development of novel, effective, and safe therapies for chronic pain. Various pro-inflammatory cytokines are known to be increased during chronic pain, leading to sustained inflammation in the peripheral and central nervous systems. The pro-inflammatory environment activates additional metabolic routes, including the kynurenine (KYN) and tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) pathways, which generate bioactive soluble metabolites with the potential to modulate neuropathic and inflammatory pain sensitivity. Inflammation-induced upregulation of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO1) and guanosine triphosphate cyclohydrolase I (GTPCH), both rate-limiting enzymes of KYN and BH4 biosynthesis, respectively, have been identified in experimental chronic pain models as well in biological samples from patients affected by chronic pain. Inflammatory inducible KYN and BH4 pathways upregulation is characterized by increase in pronociceptive compounds, such as quinolinic acid (QUIN) and BH4, in addition to inflammatory mediators such as interferon gamma (IFN-γ) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α). As expected, the pharmacologic and genetic experimental manipulation of both pathways confers analgesia. Many metabolic intermediates of these two pathways such as BH4, are known to sustain pain, while others, like xanthurenic acid (XA; a KYN pathway metabolite) have been recently shown to be an inhibitor of BH4 synthesis, opening a new avenue to treat chronic pain. This review will focus on the KYN/BH4 crosstalk in chronic pain and the potential modulation of these metabolic pathways that could induce analgesia without dependence or abuse liability.

Indexed as

central sensitizationchronic paininflammatory painkynurenineneuroinflammationneuropathic paintetrahydrobiopterinxanthurenic acid

Identifiers

PMID32694973
PMCPMC7338796
OpenAlexW3037600635

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.