Fig. 1

Schematic showing the cellular and molecular pathway involved in neuropathic pain following peripheral nerve injury (top). The presence and/or relevance of the pathway in males and females is shown where elements of the pathway lie on the blue (male) and pink (female) lines. A solid line indicates evidence exists for involvement in that sex; a broken line indicates either absence of evidence or yet to be tested. Pathway components in red show known involvement in spinal changes leading to reduced inhibition, increased excitation and resultant increase in pain hypersensitivity. See text for further details