Scientists have found that the human body retains the memory of pain for a long time

The human body stores "memories" of pain experienced at an early age in macrophages, which becomes one of the main elements of the immune system.

This is reported by SSPDaily with reference to a study published in Cell Reports.

The report indicates that scientists from Cincinnati Children's Center have managed to find out the mechanism of "memorization".

It is reported that the changes in response to pain occur in macrophage cells, which play a crucial role in the immune system. Scientists say that more intense reactions are observed among women.

Studies have shown that male mice that have experienced trauma at an early age show the same epigenetic changes as females, but their "memory" is not as long-lasting. In females, the effect was observed more than 100 days after the injury.

The incisions made by the scientists provoked the bone marrow stem cells to generate macrophages "prepared" for a more intense reaction, which increased the sensation of pain.

"It was a surprise to us to see how a single localized injury so dramatically altered the systemic epigenetic/transcriptomic (characteristic of the response caused by the body's complete set of mRNAs - ed.) landscape of macrophages," says Michael Jankowski, deputy director of the Cincinnati Pediatric Pain Research Center.

Further research has shown that the changes that occur in a gene called p75NTR can be found in human macrophage cells. For them, the relevant time period of "memory" should be from 10 to 15 years.

The scientists also managed to block the p75NTR receptor in young mice, which blunted the ability of macrophages to transmit information to sensory neurons. As a result, this prevented an intense reaction to repeated pain. However, it is still unknown whether such methods would be safe for humans.

This discovery emphasizes the fundamental differences between the genetic activity of the developing immune system of a newborn and the mature adult system.