Research ArticleOpen Access

Mrgprs: An Essential Role In Itch

Volume 5 - Issue 5

**Guan Yi Wu^1,2 and Zong Xiang Tang*¹**

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- ¹Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, School of Medicine and Life Sciences, China
- ²Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine, College of Basic Medicine, China
*Corresponding author: Zong xiang Tang, School of Medicine and Life Sciences, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210023, Jiangsu, China

Received: June 12, 2018; Published: June 21, 2018

DOI: 10.26717/BJSTR.2018.05.001274

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Abstract

Itch is an unpleasant cutaneous sensation associated with a desire to scratch. It is not merely as a clinical symptom of a variety of diseases but also a disease. Itch can be elicited by a variety of endogenous pruritogen molecules and exogenous substances that activate the membrane receptor and ion channel of neurons. Looking for and identification novel itch related receptors are essential to understand the physiological and pathological mechanism of itch. Mas-related G-protein-coupled receptors (Mrgprs) have been discovered about more than 10 year which are exclusively distributed in the peripheral nervous system and relational tissues. They play a special role in the evoked and transmission of itch. Pruritogen such as chloroquine, small bovine adrenal medulla 8-22 (BAM 8-22) peptide, SLIGRL and β-alanine can activate the member of Mrgprs family to induce scratching. In this paper, we will review the discovery, distribution and function of Mrgprs in acute and chronic itch.