BIOLOGY
Michael Irving
August 16th, 2019
A
potential new organ that plays a role in pain detection has been discovered
(Credit:
kees59/Depositphotos)
For better or worse, the skin is
very sensitive to the outside world. Previously, it's been believed that
nociceptive sensory nerve endings in the skin are directly responsible for
picking up pain sensations. But they might not be working alone, according to
the team on the new study.
The Karolinska researchers have
apparently discovered a new type of glial cell in the skin that are highly
sensitive to thermal and mechanical pain sensations. Thermal, as you may have
guessed, are those pain signals related to extreme heat or cold on the skin,
while mechanical pain includes those from cuts, pricks or pressure.
These cells are arranged within
the skin in a mesh-like structure, which the team is calling an organ.
Activation of these cells appears to create an electrical impulse, which then
triggers the nerve cells we already knew were there. That in turn triggers a
reflex action – such as sharply removing your hand from a hot object – and the
experience of pain.
The researchers also say they ran
experiments where they blocked the organ, and the ability to feel mechanical
pain decreased as a result. They haven't clarified whether that's in mice,
humans or something else, but it could be a promising lead towards new targets
for particular types of pain relief.
"Our study shows that sensitivity
to pain does not occur only in the skin's nerve fibers, but also in this
recently-discovered pain-sensitive organ," says Patrik Ernfors, chief
investigator on the study. "The discovery changes our understanding of the
cellular mechanisms of physical sensation and it may be of significance in the
understanding of chronic pain."
Whether or not this new body part
officially joins the ranks as an organ remains to be seen. The definition can be
fluid, depending on who you ask, and the argument was dredged up last year when
the interstitium was
discovered. That anatomical feature is made up of a complex series of
interconnected cavities that help drain fluids into the lymphatic system. While
the researchers called it a new organ, other scientists disagreed, likening them
to blood vessels as components that are present throughout the body but don't
fit the "organ" label.
Either way, the discovery of this
new arrangement of pain-sensitive cells helps improve our understanding of how
our body registers sensations, and could lead to new ways to treat chronic pain.
The research was published in the
journal Science.
Source: New Atlas URL:
https://newatlas.com/new-organ-pain-detection/61088/Karolinska
Institutet via Science
Daily