BACKGROUND:  Neuropathic pain is a type of chronic pain caused by the dysfunction of one or more nerves. This type of pain represents a challenge in medicine because of its frequency, severity, and limited number of effective treatment options. In the USA and European countries, the prevalence of neuropathic pain is between 1.5 and 7.7% of the population. Most patients respond poorly to standard pain therapies involving pain killers. One treatment that has been used to reduce neuropathic pain is antidepressants. Antidepressants are useful, however the mechanisms are unknown and they have unwanted side effects. Therefore, there is a need to uncover how antidepressants work in neuropathic pain, which would then open up new targets to design better analgesics.

INNOVATION:  UCLA researchers have identified new targets for the development of next generation analgesics for neuropathic pain. By studying the molecular mechanisms that lead to up-regulation of a specific receptor in nerve cells, investigators have identified a cell line that is used to study receptors in isolation and screen a new generation of analgesics. This is a simple and convenient assay to be used in high throughput format.

POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS 

• New candidate pathways provide information on mechanism of action for antidepressants used to treat neuropathic pain
• Cell line may be used to screen and design new and improved analgesics

ADVANTAGES

• New candidate pathways
• Better understanding on the mechanism of action for antidepressants
• Simple and convenient assay that may be used in high throughput format

DEVELOPMENT-TO-DATE:  In vitro experiments have been completed.

Reference: UCLA Case No. 2009-358