Tissue damage, inflammation or injury of the nervous system may result in chronic
neuropathic pain characterised by increased sensitivity to painful stimuli (hyperalgesia), the
perception of innocuous stimuli as painful (allodynia) and spontaneous pain. Neuropathic
pain has been described in about 1% of the US population, is often severely debilitating and
largely resistant to treatment. Animal models of peripheral neuropathic pain are now
available in which the mechanisms underlying hyperalgesia and allodynia due to nerve …