Similarities between chronic pain and NVU activation. Studies from the literature indicate that different NVU components are activated in a given pathology (e.g., epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, chronic pain) with a special focus on BBB/BSCB permeability alterations. Neuroinflammatory/neurodegenerative diseases are associated with chronic pain (see indicated percentages), but further studies are necessary to establish whether NVU activation may represent a “missing link” in the association. While the intrinsic mechanisms relating NVU activation, chronic pain, and neuroinflammatory/neurodegenerative disorders remain unclear, BBB/BSCB permeabilization appears to play a role.
