Itching for progress
Professor Jonathan Rees, Grant Chair of Dermatology, Dermatology, University of Edinburgh, Room 4.018, First Floor, The Lauriston Building, Lauriston Place, Edinburgh EH3 9HA, UK.
E-mail: [email protected]
Conflict of interest: none declared.
Summary
The study of itch remains a neglected field, with a number of barriers limiting satisfactory therapy in the majority of instances. We review recent advances, focusing on the identification of the neural pathways, distinct from pain, that signal itch; methods to measure itch as scratch in humans; and the identification of a role for H4 receptors in mediating itch (in the mouse).
