ScienceDaily (Mar. 26, 2010) — Research at the University of Leeds could pave the way to a new generation of painkillers by providing a new theory of how inflammation causes pain.
An international group of scientists led by Dr Nikita Gamper of the University's Faculty of Biological Sciences has discovered how two proteins play a key role in the way we feel pain, offering new targets on which drug development can be focused. The findings are published online March 24 in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
"Pain originates from a series of electrical signals sent by nerve cells in outlying areas of the body to the central nervous system and ultimately the brain," said Dr Gamper. "We still know very little about the mechanism by which these signals are generated, so existing painkillers are non-specific, designed to generally dull the reception of the signals in the central nervous system.
"Because they target the central nervous system, some stronger pain killers can provoke severe side effects, such as disorientation, drowsiness or nausea -- and many of these drugs are addictive. Our research is trying to better understand where pain originates, to enable more targeted drugs to be developed that avoid these side effects."
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100324174045.htm