Could researchers be on the brink of discovering a brand-new class of painkillers? A team of scientists from Duke University have discovered a class of small-molecule drugs that could potentially target two high-priority molecules in the treatment of pain. Over 100 million people experience chronic pain in the United States, and the current options for medication are lacking.
At the outset of the study, the researchers began testing compounds to block TRPV4, a molecule that previous studies have associated with the irritation felt from sunburn. This molecule is also associated with pain transmitted from the head and facial regions. One of the compounds developed during the course of the study has become a possible new drug candidate, and has demonstrated potential efficacy in cellular models of osteoarthritis, nerve cell injury, stroke and epilepsy. Additional research on this compound, number 16-8, showed that it also blocks TRPA1, another molecule associated with pain and itching. When tested in a mouse model of pancreatic inflammation, a notoriously painful and difficult-to-treat condition in humans, 16-8 performed well at reducing indications of pain. Because this medication is non-opioid, it is not expected to cause dependence or addiction.
This discovery comes at a timely moment, as the CDC is describing the current spread of opioid addiction as "an epidemic," citing the precipitous rise in both prescriptions and deaths due to overdose. According to the CDC, an average 78 Americans die every day from opioid overdoses, and 12 percent of all opioid prescriptions are written by dentists. Unfortunately, few effective and non-addictive alternatives exist for severe pain, and researchers are scrambling to fill this gap as quickly as they can.
Their efforts are hindered in part because pain is a particularly difficult area of medicine both to research and treat. Pain research is complicated by experimental ethics, as in many cases animals must suffer in order for researchers to test the effectiveness of experimental medications. Additionally, the mechanism by which pain is felt and transmitted is highly complex, extending over multiple receptors, nervous pathways and areas of the brain. To make matters worse, pain can be transmitted even when archetypical pain receptors are blocked in a mechanism similar to an electrical "short circuit," in which the ion gradient forming the signal exits the nerve cell through non-standard pathways. Novel approaches to pain control must take into account this complexity while at the same time remaining highly specific to the desired biological targets to avoid harmful side effects.
This research holds significant promise for dental and chronic pain patients, as a new class of effective non-opioid drugs would rapidly see widespread use without the fear of dependence or overdose.
Sources:
Prevention of prescription opioid abuse: the role of the dentist. Denisco, Richard C. et al. The Journal of the American Dental Association , Volume 142 , Issue 7 , 800 - 810
Scientists Discover and Test New Class of Pain Relievers. (2016, June 1). Retrieved June 01, 2016, from http://today.duke.edu/2016/06/doublepain
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