ArticleBMJ open science2022
Fibroblasts: the neglected cell type in peripheral sensitisation and chronic pain? A review based on a systematic search of the literature.
Article in BMJ open science, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 24 citations in OpenAlex.
- Integrated single-cell and spatial transcriptomics reveal stromal-immune-vascular crosstalk in patients with interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome.Experimental & molecular medicine · 2026Article
- Dermal fibroblast mitochondrial profiles in painful diabetic neuropathy.Diabetologia · 2026Article
- Cellular and molecular basis of neuropathic pain.RMD open · 2026Review
- Pathogenic Drivers of Difficult-to-Treat Rheumatoid Arthritis: Synovium and Beyond.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Beyond Symptom Suppression: The Multitargeted Reversal of Chronic Pain by Maresin1.Drug design, development and therapy · 2026Review
- Cellular and molecular changes in the skin driving increased nociception and pain during burn injury and repair.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Endometrial Stromal Cells from Endometriosis Patients Reflect Lesion-Type-Specific Heterogeneity.Cells · 2025Article
- Not Just Neurons: Pain Is Orchestrated in Partnership with Many Non-neuronal Cells.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2025Review
- From nociception in aneural animals to human suffering: toward a comparative biology of pain.The Journal of experimental biology · 2025Review
- A role for fibroblast and mural cell subsets in a nerve ligation model of neuropathic pain?Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2025Article
- Review
- The Role of Fibroblasts in Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa Pathogenesis and Current Treatment Approaches.JID innovations : skin science from molecules to population health · 2025Review
- Fibroblasts as key cellular targets in acupuncture therapy: a mechanistic perspective.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2025Review
- Nonepithelial Gene Expression Correlates With Symptom Severity in Adults With Eosinophilic Esophagitis.The journal of allergy and clinical immunology. In practice · 2024Article
- An interdisciplinary perspective on peripheral drivers of pain in rheumatoid arthritis.Nature reviews. Rheumatology · 2024Review
- Pain sensitisation and joint inflammation in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis.RMD open · 2024Article
- Communicating pain: emerging axonal signaling in peripheral neuropathic pain.Frontiers in neuroanatomy · 2024Review
- Elevated interleukin-8 expression by skin fibroblasts as a potential contributor to pain in women with Fabry disease.PloS one · 2024Article
- Fibroblast-derived PI16 sustains inflammatory pain via regulation of CD206Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2023Article
- Pain-resolving immune mechanisms in neuropathic pain.Nature reviews. Neurology · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Chronic pain and its underlying biological mechanisms have been studied for many decades, with a myriad of molecules, receptors and cell types known to contribute to abnormal pain sensations. Besides an obvious role for neurons, immune cells like microglia, macrophages and T cells are also important drivers of persistent pain. While neuroinflammation has therefore been widely studied in pain research, there is one cell type that appears to be rather neglected in this context: the humble fibroblast. Fibroblasts may seem unassuming but actually play a major part in regulating immune cell function and driving chronic inflammation. Here, our aim was to determine the breadth and quality of research that implicates fibroblasts in chronic pain conditions and models.
objectivesWe set out to analyse the current literature on this topic-using systematic screening and data extraction methods to obtain a balanced view on what has been published.
methodsWe categorised the articles we included-stratifying them according to what was investigated, the estimated quality of results and any common conclusions.
resultsWe found that there has been surprisingly little research in this area: 134 articles met our inclusion criteria, only a tiny minority of which directly investigated interactions between fibroblasts and peripheral neurons.
conclusionsFibroblasts are a ubiquitous cell type and a prominent source of many proalgesic mediators in a wide variety of tissues. We think that they deserve a more central role in pain research and propose a new, testable model of how fibroblasts might drive peripheral neuron sensitisation.
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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.