Metabolomics implicates altered sphingolipids in chronic pain of neuropathic origin.

Abstract

Neuropathic pain is a debilitating condition for which the development of effective treatments has been limited by an incomplete understanding of its chemical basis. We show by using untargeted metabolomics that sphingomyelin-ceramide metabolism is altered in the dorsal horn of rats with neuropathic pain and that the upregulated, endogenous metabolite N,N-dimethylsphingosine induces mechanical hypersensitivity in vivo. These results demonstrate the utility of metabolomics to implicate unexplored biochemical pathways in disease.

• Authors: Gary J Patti, Oscar Yanes, Leah P Shriver, Jean-Phillipe Courade, Ralf Tautenhahn, Marianne Manchester, Gary Siuzdak
• Journal: Nature chemical biology (Nat Chem Biol) Vol. 8 Issue 3 Pg. 232-4 (Jan 22 2012) ISSN: 1552-4469 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 22267119 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural, Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.)

Chemical References

• Ceramides
• Sphingolipids

Topics

• Animals
• Ceramides (metabolism)
• Chronic Disease
• Chronic Pain (metabolism)
• Metabolomics
• Neuralgia (metabolism)
• Rats
• Rats, Sprague-Dawley
• Sphingolipids (metabolism)