Purinergic receptors and pain.

There is a brief summary of the early background literature about purinergic signalling and its involvement in pain, of ATP storage, release and ectoenzymatic breakdown and of the current classification of receptor subtypes for purines and pyrimidines. The review then focuses on purinergic mechanosensory transduction involved in visceral, cutaneous and musculoskeletal nociception and on the roles played by P2X-(3), P2Y(2/3), P2X(4), P2X(7) and P2Y(12) receptors in neuropathic and inflammatory pain. Current developments of compounds for the therapeutic treatment of both visceral and neuropathic pain are discussed.