Higher Rates of Chronic Pain in Women May be Linked to Genetics

    According to University of Glasgow, women may be at a greater risk of chronic pain due to genetics. To understand why more women suffered from chronic pain compared to men, the researchers conducted a study. The researchers found that chronic pain originates to a large extent in the brain. “They found that all 37 genes in men and all but one of the 31 genes in women were active in the dorsal root ganglion.” The dorsal root ganglion is a cluster of nerves that transmit pain signals from the body to the brain. The researchers believe that this finding will change the way patients are treated for pain. Overall, this finding will help develop novel therapies for this hard-to-treat condition.

Articles:

https://neurosciencenews.com/women-chronic-pain-genetics-18203/

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1009428

FKBP5 Befriends Chronic Pain

              Recently published in the United Kingdom’s Science Translational Medicine Journal, researchers suggested that a new protein blocking mechanism may be the key to treating chronic pain. Chronic pain is defined as pain that begins over a twelve week period, and lasts for weeks to years. This condition is normally found in the lower back region, but in some cases it can affect the neck and face. Chronic pain is associated with post-traumatic stress disorder and depression which is caused by certain variations of a gene called FKBP5. Researchers pursue to gain better knowledge on how FKBP5 adds to chronic pain.

              During their research, genetically modified mice were altered to lack FKBP51, a variation of FKBP5, which plays a role in stress regulation. There were no negative side effects and mice were more mobile with normal pain responses. In the second half of the experiment, researchers blocked FKBP51 in the spinal cord with a protein gene called SAFit2. This protein is normally used to reduce anxiety by blocking brain activity, but by using SAFit2 to block FKBP1, mice showed that it significantly reduced chronic pain. Although this is a new study, researchers may have found the answer they were looking for to cure chronic pain.

               In my opinion, I believe this research has potential to solve chronic pain in humans. Even though this research is fairly new, SAFit2 has shown significant results in reducing chronic pain within mice spinal cords. Mice have been model icons for research and have lead many of diseases and conditions to multiple cures. The only disadvantage to using mice for chronic pain research is that the gene that regulates stress in humans is different than the gene that regulates mice stress. Although the variation of FKBP1 can be blocked by SAFit2 , the P5 variation may require different proteins to block it in humans. Researchers have definitely moved closer to solving the mystery of chronic pain, but without developing a drug that can be used within humans, researchers will find them further exploring this unusual condition.

Pain Blocker

       Researchers in Illinois have designed a wireless and battery-less device that can be implanted under the skin to block pain signals from reaching the brain.  The researchers stated that one huge benefit to these devices is that they are LED lit and and enable scientists to work with neurons in the spinal cord or other locations outside the CNS.
      The research was done using genetically engineered mice with light-sensitive proteins on specific nerve cells. "In order to establish that their implants could disrupt the pain pathway in nerve cells, the team triggered a pain response using light; as the mice walked through a certain area in a maze, the researchers activated the devices, causing discomfort for the mice.  Then, when they left that area, the devices switched off, clearing the discomfort." (Ellis) This study shows that the devices are able to deliver pain; however, researchers believe that the devices could also be used to block pain. The hope in this research is that patients suffering from chronic and untreatable pain will be provided with a cure.
       I found this article to be very interesting.  Many people suffer from chronic pain, young and old; with this new technology patients could potentially have a life altering cure.  Pain limits a person's ability to do much of anything so results like this could bring people their lives back. I hope that more research is done on this and I would be interested to see if this device makes it into the medical field.

Check out the full article here! To see symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment of chronic pain click here.

"Off Switch" for pain relief?

     On Wednesday, November 26, 2014 scientific efforts led by Salvemini at Saint Louis University Medical Center believe that the finding of blocking a pain pathway in animal models will lead to a "promising" new approach to pain relief.  The findings have produced the results that blocking a pain pathway in animal models of chronic neuropathic pain including pain caused by chemotherapeutic agents and bone cancer pain suggesting a promising new approach to pain relief.  Ultimately, it was demonstrated that turning on a receptor in the brain and spinal cord counteracts chronic nerve pain in male and female rodents.  The activation of the A3 receptor by either the natural chemical stimulator, adenosine, or a powerful synthetic drug invented by the NIH, prevents or reverses pain that slowly develops from nerve damage. 

     These findings are significant because pain is a significant issue that many individuals suffer from on a daily basis.  Additionally, some treatments result in intolerable side effects and do not prevent the pain.  The pathways that are typically targeted are circuits involving opioid, adrenergic, and calcium channels where scientists take advantage of the molecular-level component interactions.  

     Moreover, Salvemini and colleagues demonstrated that the activation of A3 adenosine is key in mediating the pain relieving effects of adenosine.  Salvemini states that, "It has long been appreciated that harnessing the potent pain-killing effects of adenosine could provide a breakthrough step towards an effective treatment for chronic pain."  Researchers are excited to note that A3AR agonist are already in advanced clinical trials as an anti-inflammatory and anticancer agents which also display good safety profiles.

     I found this article to be quite interesting and intriguing to read about.  Pain is a persistent annoyance that many individuals go through on a daily-basis, myself included and these findings can be a step in the right direction to helping out so many individuals live a healthy and active life. 

Main article: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/11/141126132639.htm

Chinese Acupuncture Affects Brain's Ability To Regulate Pain

According to Science Daily, University of Michigan performed a study that proves that Chinese acupuncture affects the brains ability to regulate pain. The studies participants were 20 females who have fibromyalgia. Fibromyalgia is a common syndrome in which a person has long-term, body-wide pain and tenderness in the joints, muscles, tendons, and other soft tissues. They must of had the syndrome for more than a year and have experienced pain for at least 50 percent of the time. During the study, the participants had to agree not to take any new medication. The patients had eight treatments and had position emission tomography, or PET, scans of the brain during the first treatment and then repeated a month later after the eighth treatment.

A result of the study was that acupuncture increased the binding availability of mu-opoid receptors (MOR) in regions of the brain that process and dampen pain signals – specifically the cingulate, insula, caudate, thalamus and amygdala. There are other medications like painkillers/ morphine that are thought to work by binding to these opioid receptors in the brain and spinal cord. The reduction of pain was associated with the increased binding availability of the receptors.

One possible conclusion of this study is that patients with chronic pain can be treated with acupuncture and they might be more responsive to opioid medications since the receptors seem to have more binding availability. The researchers of this study strongly believe that acupuncture can help reduce chronic pain and can help individuals who are affected by syndromes like fibromyalgia.