New method discovered to target chronic pain
pharmafile | June 1, 2017 | News story | Research and Development |Â Â opioid, painkillersÂ
Chronic pain is notoriously difficult to treat and can lead some people to take painkillers of increasing strength to combat the condition. This can results in further issues associated with long-term or overuse of NSAIDs and opioid painkillers. However, new research has uncovered that a protein that has long been known to play significant role in pain has been targeted under a false assumption.
Researchers from Monash University discovered that while the protein, NK1 receptor, was recognised to mediate pain transmission, treatments that were targeted at the protein were not shown to be effective at treating pain. The new research found that the issue may reside in the fact that previous drugs targeted the receptor on the surface of the nerve cell instead of inside the cell.
In studies in mice, it was found that if the NK-1 receptor was blocked once it entered the nerve cell then it was possible to more effectively reduce pain. To counter the tendency of the receptor to operate within cells, the researchers were able to attach a fat molecule to essentially ferry a drug targeting the receptor into the cell.
Dr Meritxell Canals, an author of the study, said: “This is a proof-of-concept study that shows that we can re-engineer current pain drugs and make them more effective. The challenge is now to translate the technology into human clinical trials. This is a complex and challenging path – but the ultimate benefits to patients with nerve pain are potentially highly significant.”
The results of being able to deliver the receptor-targeting drugs to within the cells were that pain was reduced and for a longer period of time compared to standard treatment. The next step for the research will be to discover whether the same could hold true within humans. As mentioned by Dr Canals, this means that older drugs could be effectively re-purposed to provide a more effective, new therapy for those suffering from chronic and acute pain.
Ben Hargreaves
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