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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2018 Nov 1.
Published in final edited form as: Pain. 2017 Nov;158(11):2137–2146. doi: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000001014

Figure 8.

Figure 8

Hypothesized/conceptual role of specific ROS subtypes in cell type-specific synaptic plasticity. We hypothesize that following aberrant afferent activities caused by nerve injury, calcium influx through N-Methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) receptors will lead to an increase of superoxide radicals in both STTn and GABAn. In GABAn, hydroxyl radicals are also generated in addition to superoxide radicals. Superoxide radicals in STTn will then lead to LTP, whereas both superoxide and hydroxyl radicals in GABAn will cause LTD. These two opposing cell-type specific synaptic plasticity will cause increased excitation of STTn and decreased inhibition by GABAn, which results in central sensitization that contributes to neuropathic pain.