Cough and itch are protective mechanisms in the body. Cough occurs as a reflex motor response to foreign body inhalation, while itch is a sensation that similarly evokes a scratch response to remove irritants from the skin. Both cough and itch can last for sustained periods, leading to debilitating chronic disorders that negatively impact quality of life. Understanding the parallels and differences between chronic cough and chronic itch may be paramount to developing novel therapeutic approaches. In this article, we identify connections in the mechanisms contributing to the complex cough and scratch reflexes and summarize potential shared therapeutic targets. An online search was performed using various search engines, including PubMed, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and ClinicalTrials.gov from 1983 to 2024. Articles were assessed for quality, and those relevant to the objective were analyzed and summarized. The literature demonstrated similarities in the triggers, peripheral and central nervous system processing, feedback mechanisms, immunologic mediators, and receptors involved in the cough and itch responses, with the neuronal sensitization processes exhibiting the greatest parallels between cough and itch. Given the substantial impact on quality of life, novel therapies targeting similar neuroimmune pathways may apply to both itch and cough and provide new avenues for enhancing their management.

中文翻译：

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咳嗽和瘙痒：喉咙和皮肤刺激的常见机制。


咳嗽和瘙痒是体内的保护机制。咳嗽是对异物吸入的反射性运动反应，而瘙痒是一种同样会引起抓挠反应以去除皮肤刺激物的感觉。咳嗽和瘙痒都可以持续一段时间，导致使人衰弱的慢性疾病，从而对生活质量产生负面影响。了解慢性咳嗽和慢性瘙痒之间的相似之处和差异对于开发新的治疗方法可能至关重要。在本文中，我们确定了导致复杂咳嗽和抓挠反射的机制中的联系，并总结了潜在的共同治疗靶点。从 1983 年到 2024 年，使用各种搜索引擎进行在线搜索，包括 PubMed、Web of Science、Google Scholar 和 ClinicalTrials.gov。对文章进行质量评估，并分析和总结与目标相关的文章。文献表明，参与咳嗽和瘙痒反应的触发因素、外周和中枢神经系统处理、反馈机制、免疫介质和受体具有相似性，神经元致敏过程在咳嗽和瘙痒之间表现出最大的相似之处。鉴于对生活质量的重大影响，针对相似神经免疫途径的新型疗法可能适用于瘙痒和咳嗽，并为加强其管理提供新的途径。