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No more back problems or migraines - New extra painkillers invented
No more back pain or migraine attacks? For those affected it sounds like a dream. This could perhaps come true soon. British scientists found out why some people can not feel pain. This finding could now lead to the development of "super painkillers". The new painkillers could make opioid analgesics obsolete. The results of their study, the researchers published in the journal "Nature".
In humans, if the neuronal sodium channel Nav1.7 is genetically deficient, they are unable to experience pain. This rare genetic disease has now been artificially created in a laboratory experiment on transgenic mice. The study could mean a painless future for millions of people.
Soon a new painkiller available to treat a variety of pains? (Image: pathdoc / fotolia.com) Researchers discover "secret recipe" for pain-free life
Researchers at University College London used mice to artificially create the same conditions found in people without Nav1.7 sodium channel. The scientists discovered that the painless condition is caused by opioid peptides. In the future, physicians could combine painkillers to create a "super-painkiller". This would then be able to block the pain receptors with only small doses of opioid painkillers. The experts suspect that the new drugs could be a kind of "secret recipe" for a painless life.
Disadvantages of opioid painkillers
Opioid analgesics, such as morphine, are very effective in reducing pain in the short term. But over a longer period of time, they can be addictive and require ever higher doses to work. If the drugs are used too long, our tolerance continues to increase and eventually the opioid painkillers would even lose their full effect, the researchers warned.
Subject feels pain in her life for the first time
Pain is transmitted to the brain as electrical signals, along the nerve cell membranes. These also refer to scientists as channels. The UCL researchers found that people without Nav1.7 produce more opioid peptides ... According to studies on genetically modified mice, the physicians gave a 39-year-old woman naloxone. The subject was ill with the rare genetic mutation. The drug used was an opioid blocker and after taking the woman could feel pain for the first time in their lives, said the doctors from UCL.
Experiments with mice already successful
For the past ten years, drug studies on this topic have been rather disappointing. Current research has now confirmed that Nav1.7 is truly a key element of human pain, said researcher Professor John Wood. The missing ingredient for a "super-painkiller" had been good old-fashioned opioid peptides. The scientists would now have a patent for the combination of a low dose opioid with a Nav1.7 blocker, added the physician. This combination aims to replicate the painlessness of people with the rare mutation. The approach has been successfully tested in experiments with unmodified mice, said Professor Wood.
In 2017, new drug could help millions of pain patients
If a Nav1.7 blocker is combined with an opioid, the required dose of opioid is very low. Nevertheless, the effect is very good and pain could be prevented, "said Professor Wood. People with malfunctioning Nav1.7 produce low levels of opioids throughout their lives. However, those affected do not develop tolerance or other unpleasant side effects. The only known side effect is the inability to smell. Human study will continue until 2017. Thereafter, drug combinations can begin to help millions of chronic pain patients worldwide, added Professor Wood.