Pain acts as an alert system that tells us to pause and pay attention to our bodies, and has long been recognized as one of evolution’s most reliable tools to detect the presence of harm as well as signal that something is wrong. Newly reported research in mice now suggests that pain may be more than just a mere alarm bell, and may itself represent a form of protection. The study, headed by researchers at Harvard Medical School (HMS), suggests that in mice, pain neurons in the gut regulate the presence of protective mucus under normal conditions and stimulate intestinal cells to release more mucus during states of inflammation.
