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. 2023 Oct 4;19:17448069231203090. doi: 10.1177/17448069231203090

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© The Author(s) 2023

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).

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Figure 1. — Unique aspects of pain in aging. (a) Persistent low-grade inflammation (pink patches) in the aged is characterized by activated immune cells, namely microglia in the CNS and macrophages in the periphery. Secretion of pro-inflammatory factors affects nerves in the periphery as well as responses in the CNS. (b) Differences in PNS inflammatory state, neuronal activity, and pain response in aged peripheral tissues, compared to young. Chronic secretion of pro-inflammatory mediators damages nerves and alters pain sensitivity in the aged. (c) CNS immune sensitization or microglia become “primed”, leading to behavioral deficits in the aged.