Research Paper Volume 13, Issue 14 pp 18606—18619
Obesity increases neuropathic pain via the AMPK-ERK-NOX4 pathway in rats
Figure 8. Proposed mechanisms by which obesity leads to increased neuropathic pain. Under high-fat environment, AMPK is inactivated in neuronal cells, then ERK is activated, thus the expression of NOX4 is elevated. These changes elevate intracellular levels of oxidative stress and inflammation, which ultimately leads to neuronal apoptosis. These pathologies resulted in increased neuropathic pain.