Papers of the Week

Neuropathic pain (NP) is one of the most intractable diseases. The lack of effective therapeutic measures remains a major problem due to the poor understanding of the cause of NP. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of the long non‑coding RNA small nucleolar RNA host gene 5 (SNHG5) in NP and the underlying molecular mechanism in order to identify possible therapeutic targets. A chronic constriction injury (CCI) mouse model was used to investigate whether SNHG5 prevents NP and the inflammatory response. Luciferase and RNA pull‑down assays were used to detect the binding between SNHG5 and miR‑142‑5p as well as between miR‑142‑5p and CAMK2A. Western blot and qPCR were used to detect the RNA and protein expression. The results indicated that SNHG5 significantly inhibited CCI‑induced NP. In addition, SNHG5 inhibited the inflammatory response through decreasing the release and the mRNA expression of interleukin (IL)‑1β, IL‑6, IL‑10 and tumor necrosis factor‑α. Mechanistically, SNHG5 acted via sponging microRNA‑142‑5p, thereby upregulating the expression of calcium/calmodulin‑dependent protein kinase II α (CAMK2A). Further investigation indicated that CAMK2A knockdown also inhibited CCI‑induced NP and inflammation. In summary, the present study demonstrated that SNHG5 silencing could alleviate the neuropathic pain induced by chronic constriction injury via sponging miR‑142‑5p and regulating the expression of CAMK2A.