Pain is a debilitating condition which is the leading cause of cognitive, mood
and anxiety disorders. It is one of the major medical burdens on human health which
obstructs the quality life of a person as the appropriate therapeutic solution is not
available. Due to advancement of new genomic technologies, it is now possible to view
genome wide changes during chronic pain in different cell types from the somatosensory
system to the neurons in central nervous system. Tremendous research over
recent years has enlightened the magical potential of small non-coding RNAs, mainly
microRNAs in modulating numerous pathophysiological processes including
proliferation, apoptosis and oncogenesis. They target a wide range of molecules and
refine their protein output and thus, fine tune distinct cellular processes including pain
signaling. Recently, animal models depicting inflammatory and neuropathic pain and
patient subjects complaining distress due to pain have shown deregulations of miRNAs
in affected tissues and systemic circulation. Although various painful conditions viz.
spinal cord injury, peripheral nerve injury, cancer and inflammatory diseases have been
recognized with genome-wide changes in microRNA signatures, yet the gene
regulatory networks underlying pathological significance of individual microRNAs are
sparsely studied. Hence, this chapter summarizes the latest findings addressing the role
of microRNAs in various inflammatory or neuropathic pain conditions. How can
miRNA research be expedited in revealing new aspects of pain pathophysiology is also
addressed. The chapter also uncovers the novel potentials of miRNAs as well as
roadblocks in the path of miRNA based anti-nociceptive therapies.
Keywords: DRG, miRNA, Nociceptive pathway, Pain, Spinal cord, TG.
