Papers of the Week

Neuropathic pain is a debilitating symptom reported by patients presenting with postherpetic neuralgia (PHN). Efforts to alleviate this pain have been projected to lie in individualization of pharmacological treatment through pain phenotyping and subsequent investigations into the genetic basis of postherpetic neuralgia therapy. Understanding the various mechanisms related to these phenotypes can aid in improvement of available treatment options and discovery of new ones. Knowledge and application of genetic variations in postherpetic neuralgia – structural proteins and genes can aid in ascertaining risk, susceptibility to, severity of and protection from postherpetic neuralgia. This review summarizes the most recent information that has been published on phenotypes and genotypes with possible clinical applications and directions for future research.