Host: The Japanese Pharmacological Society
Name : The 97th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Pharmacological Society
Number : 97
Location : [in Japanese]
Date : December 14, 2023 - December 16, 2023
GPR40/FFAR1 is one of the G-protein-coupled receptors, which is activated by long-chain fatty acids such as docosahexaenoic acid. Our previous study showed that fatty acid-GPR40/FFAR1 signaling in the brain may be involved in pain control via the regulation of an endogenous pain control system. In fact, GPR40/FFAR1-deficient mice showed delayed recovery from postoperative pain, whereas these mice exhibited abnormal emotional behaviors, such as a reduction in sucrose preference and anxiety-like behavior. GPR40/FFAR1 signaling might function as a possible common factor in the regulation of emotion and pain. Our recent study demonstrated that mice subjected to repeated social defeat stress showed a dramatically more prolonged prolongation of postsurgical pain. The phospholipid and fatty acid distribution in some brain areas, such as the prefrontal cortex and hypothalamus of mice, was drastically reduced after stress exposure using imaging mass microscopy. These results suggest that the reduction of brain fatty acid distribution during exposure to social defeat stress might disrupt endogenous pain control mechanisms, leading to chronic pain. In this symposium, we would like to discuss the changes in brain fatty acid signaling cause stress-induced chronic pain and propose potential new drugs targeting fatty acid signaling.
