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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2013 Aug 21.
Published in final edited form as: Nat Neurosci. 2012 Jul 26;15(8):1088–1095. doi: 10.1038/nn.3159

Figure 4. Neuronal pathways that may cause hyperalgesia in the first few hours of systemic inflammation.

Figure 4

PGE2 made by vascular and perivascular cells along venules in the preoptic area acts on EP3 receptors in the MnPO. This results in disinhibition of descending inhibitory projections from the medial preoptic area (MPO) to the brainstem anti-nociceptive system, including neurons in the periaqueductal gray matter (PAG) that promote analgesia by activating descending serotoninergic neurons in the RMR, which in turn inhibit nociceptive neurons in the spinal dorsal horn. Other abbreviations as in previous figures.