Research progress on regarding brain-derived neurotrophic factors in chronic pain

Chronic pain is a disease that seriously affects people's physical and mental health and affects the quality of life of millions of people worldwide. It can have multiple etiologies and a complex pathogenesis, and it generally requires a combination approach. Current clinical treatments and drugs address only a limited number of these pathways or only provide symptomatic treatment, which presents some drawbacks and cannot achieve the ideal therapeutic effect. Thus, research on the pathogenesis of chronic pain is especially important. Recent studies have found that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is involved in the pathogenesis of various chronic pain pathways that play a role in promoting pain transmission in chronic pain. Therefore, BDNF and its receptors may become important targets in the treatment of chronic pain. This paper reviews the research progress regarding the molecular mechanism of BDNF in chronic neuropathic pain, inflammatory pain, cancer pain and oral and maxillofacial pain and aims to provide a theoretical basis for further research into and prevention methods for chronic pain. The literature review showed that in chronic pain, the expression of BDNF in the primary sensory ganglia and spinal dorsal horn was significantly increased, revealing that BDNF may be closely related to the mechanism of chronic pain and may represent a new treatment direction.