The immunology of pain and analgesia

Pain is a complex biological process that typically begins with tissue insult and triggers nociceptive signaling, often accompanied by inflammation and immune activation. While inflammation is frequently recognized as a major driver of pain, inflammatory responses are heterogeneous and can contribute either to tissue repair and pain resolution or to persistent pain and tissue injury progression.In experimental settings, pain is often mitigated for ethical reasons and to comply with the 3Rs principle, particularly refinement. However, analgesic interventions can also alter immune responses, creating an important tension between animal welfare and experimental interpretability. Recent studies have highlighted that different pain-relief strategies may produce distinct immunological effects, with consequences that depend on the disease model, species, tissues analyzed, and endpoints measured.Aim of the Research TopicThis Research Topic aims to advance the understanding of how pain onset, progression, and therapeutic control interact with immune responses. We welcome studies investigating how nociception and pain management influence immune readouts, including cytokine release, immune-cell activation and polarization, antigen presentation, cell recruitment, and cell motility.Special emphasis will be placed on studies examining the immunological aspects of analgesia as a refinement strategy in in vivo research across laboratory animal species. We are particularly interested in translationally relevant analgesics, including paracetamol and NSAIDs, as well as opioids and alternative drug combinations used together with anesthetics in laboratory animal medicine and experimental research.Scope of submissionsWe encourage submissions addressing:• The immunological mechanisms underlying acute, inflammatory, neuropathic, or chronic pain.• The bidirectional crosstalk between nociceptors, immune cells, and neuroimmune mediators.• The effects of analgesic regimens on cytokines, chemokines, immune-cell phenotypes, and tissue-specific immune responses.• The impact of pain control on immune-cell recruitment, migration, and motility in peripheral tissues, lymphoid organs, or the central nervous system.• Species differences in pain management and their relevance for translational immunology and reproducibility.Relevance to 3Rs and reproducibilityBy integrating animal welfare with mechanistic immunology, this Research Topic aims to support more refined experimental design and more reproducible data generation. Understanding how analgesia influences immune endpoints will help reduce confounding effects in preclinical studies while improving the ethical conduct of animal research. Topic editors: Emrah Yatkin, Tommaso Virgilio, Akira Takeda Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/81694/the-immunology-of-pain-and-analgesia