Hernández RJM, Hierro S, Achell L

Language: Spanish
References: 11
Page: 128-135
PDF size: 258.24 Kb.

ABSTRACT

Itching is a sensation that triggers the need of scratching. Depressive disorders are the most common psychopathology associated with psychogenic pruritus. The secretion of serotonin and dopamine is associated with feelings of hopelessness and helplessness, and have also been associated with itching sensation. The itching caused by skin conditions arises as a result of dermal inflammation, dryness or other lesions. It is transmitted through C nerve fibers and A-delta (Aδ) neuronal endings, originated from free nerve endings located on the thickness of the epidermis, where neurons synapse with secondary transmission in the dorsal horn gray matter of the spinal cord, crossing the midline and ascend in the tract-lateral-spinos-thalamic to the thalamus, reaching the cerebral cortex. Systemic diseases may be accompanied by itching as a result of an imbalance between the µ and κ opioid systems or changes in levels of interleukins and neuropeptide. This paper is a review of the pathophysiology of psychogenic pruritus secondary, to finding that overexpression of endogenous opioid mu (µ) and an imbalance of agonists mu and kapa (µ and κ), and taking the psychological state of a patient may affect the presence and severity of psychogenic pruritus as it´s mediated by the central nervous system (CNS) and opioid neurotransmitter system.

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