PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Alexandria K. Driessen
AU  - Anna-Claire Devlin
AU  - Fionnuala T. Lundy
AU  - S. Lorraine Martin
AU  - Gerard P. Sergeant
AU  - Stuart B. Mazzone
AU  - Lorcan P. McGarvey
TI  - Perspectives on neuroinflammation contributing to chronic cough
AID  - 10.1183/13993003.00758-2020
DP  - 2020 Jan 01
TA  - European Respiratory Journal
PG  - 2000758
4099  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/early/2020/07/06/13993003.00758-2020.short
4100  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/early/2020/07/06/13993003.00758-2020.full
AB  - Chronic cough can be a troublesome clinical problem. Current thinking is that increased activity and/or enhanced sensitivity of the peripheral and central neural pathways mediates chronic cough via processes similar to those associated with the development of chronic pain. While inflammation is widely thought to be involved in the development of chronic cough, the true mechanisms causing altered neural activity and sensitisation remain largely unknown. In this back-to-basic perspective article we explore evidence that inflammation in chronic cough may, at least in part, involve neuroinflammation orchestrated by glial cells of the nervous system. We summarise the extensive evidence for the role of both peripheral and central glial cells in chronic pain and hypothesise that the commonalities between the pain and cough pathogenesis and clinical presentation warrant investigations into the neuroinflammatory mechanisms that contribute to chronic cough. We open the debate that glial cells may represent an underappreciated therapeutic target for controlling troublesome cough in disease.FootnotesThis manuscript has recently been accepted for publication in the European Respiratory Journal. It is published here in its accepted form prior to copyediting and typesetting by our production team. After these production processes are complete and the authors have approved the resulting proofs, the article will move to the latest issue of the ERJ online. Please open or download the PDF to view this article.Conflict of interest: Dr. Driessen has nothing to disclose.Conflict of interest: Dr. Devlin has nothing to disclose.Conflict of interest: Dr. Lundy has nothing to disclose.Conflict of interest: Dr. Martin has nothing to disclose.Conflict of interest: Dr. Sergeant has nothing to disclose.Conflict of interest: Dr. Mazzone reports grants and personal fees from Merck, personal fees from NeRRe, outside the submitted work.Conflict of interest: Dr. McGarvey reports grants and personal fees from Merck, personal fees from NeRRe, personal fees from Chiesi, personal fees from GSK, personal fees from Shionogi, outside the submitted work.