Molecular basis of pain: Membrane receptors involved in pain

Abstract

Pain is the most commonly reported symptom by both adult and pediatric patients, the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) defines pain as "An unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with, or similar to that associated with, actual tissue damage or potential. Pain can have a significant negative impact on quality of life in the context of human disease, in temporality physiological pain is usually acute and pathological pain is usually chronic. Nociceptors are specialized nerve fibers for pain, they are found in the skin, organ of movement, they are classified as myelin fibers that are called Aδ; and unmyelinated fibers or C fibers. Nociceptors can be stimulated by biological agents, electrical, thermal, mechanical and chemical stimuli, once the stimulus is received it will be transmitted to the brain. One of the pillars of anesthesia is analgesia, that is to say, inhibiting pain. In this bibliographic review, the aim is to explain the molecular bases, emphasizing the main membrane receptors activated in the presence of pain.