LPA receptor signaling as a therapeutic target for radical treatment of neuropathic pain and fibromyalgia

Since the first discovery that the bioactive lipid, lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) and LPA(1) receptor signaling play a role in the initiation of neuropathic pain (NeuP), accumulated reports have supported the original findings and extended the study toward possible therapeutic applications. The present review describes beneficial roles of LPA receptor signaling in a variety of chronic pain, such as peripheral NeuP induced by nerve injury, chemotherapy and diabetes, central NeuP induced by cerebral ischemia with hemorrhage and spinal cord injury, and fibromyalgia-like wide spread pain induced by repeated cold, psychological and muscular acidic stress. Emerging mechanistic findings are the feed-forward amplification of LPA production through LPA(1), LPA(3) and microglia and the evidence for maintenance of chronic pain by LPA receptor signaling.