The location of pain receptors, the specialized nerve endings that transmit pain signals throughout the body, may hold the key to control pain effectively. These receptors, according to a
research, are essential in determining “how big or small a pain signal will be” and “how effectively drugs can block those signals.”
The study, led by Terence Coderre, director of Anesthesia Research at McGill University, and Karen O'Malley from Washington University, posits that to control pain, pain receptors in the nucleus of spinal nerve cells need to be blocked. The researchers believe that this method could be more effective than interfering with receptors of the same type on cell surfaces. Furthermore, they also discovered that when spinal nerve cells run into painful stimulus, some receptors transfer from the cell surface into the nucleus.
These findings came to fruition following an experiment involving rats that were treated with investigational drugs that blocked the activity of receptors in the nucleus. After the procedure, it was found that rats with nerve injuries experienced less chronic pain and less pain hypersensitivity, which led scientists to believe that the animals were relieved from neuropathic pain.
Their discovery, according to professor Coderre, proves that “the location of the receptor in the cell has a major effect on the cell's ability to transmit pain signals.” The researchers are now focusing on the cause of the glutamate receptor’s migration to the nucleus and are finding ways to produce drugs that can block this occurrence.
Dr. Melanie Novak, M.D., is a pain management specialist who takes a multidisciplinary approach in addressing her patients' specific pain needs. Subscribe to this blog for more articles on pain management.
