%0 Journal Article
%T Contribution of activating lateral hypothalamus-lateral habenula circuit to nerve trauma-induced neuropathic pain in mice.
%A Gu HW
%A Zhang GF
%A Liu PM
%A Pan WT
%A Tao YX
%A Zhou ZQ
%A Yang JJ
%J Neurobiol Dis
%V 182
%N 0
%D 2023 Jun 15
%M 37182721
%F 7.046
%R 10.1016/j.nbd.2023.106155
%X Neuropathic pain, a severe clinical symptom, significantly affects the quality of life in the patients. The molecular mechanisms underlying neuropathic pain have been the focus of research in recent decades; however, the neuronal circuit-mediated mechanisms associated with this disorder remain poorly understood. Here, we report that a projection from the lateral hypothalamus (LH) glutamatergic neurons to the lateral habenula (LHb), an excitatory LH-LHb neuronal circuit, participates in nerve injury-induced nociceptive hypersensitivity. LH glutamatergic neurons are activated and display enhanced responses to normally non-noxious stimuli following chronic constriction injury. Chemogenetic inhibition of LH glutamatergic neurons or excitatory LH-LHb circuit blocked CCI-induced nociceptive hypersensitivity. Activation of the LH-LHb circuit led to augmented responses to mechanical and thermal stimuli in mice without nerve injury. These findings suggest that LH neurons and their triggered LH-LHb circuit participate in central mechanisms underlying neuropathic pain and may be targets for the treatment of this disorder.