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Published online 16 January 2008 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2008.443
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Chronic-pain treatment without side effects
A common class of drug could be targeted to give better pain relief.
A drug has been found that treats chronic pain in mice, without the usual painkiller side effects of sedation, addiction or developing tolerance.
Whether the compound has the same effect in people remains to be seen, but researchers are approaching the drug's target with "cautious optimism".
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As pointed out in the report,`the effects of a benzodiazepine are known not to act on the α1 sleep-inducing bit of the GABA receptor: a compound memorably named L-838,417.it is reported to work, in rats ,to relieve pain without sedating like other painkillers.Additionally, when the rats’ brains were imaged with functional magnetic resonance imaging to see what effect L-838,417 was having on pain-processing areas, the drug reduced activity in brain areas related to pain,Some α1-sparing benzodiazapines are already being developed for the treatment of anxiety without sleepy side effects. But the α2 and α3 might not be the same in people as in rodents.` The approach is more focussed on the pain as a symptom due to response from some brain centres which are not involved in inducing sleep or addiction. But this will definitely throw up problems due to side-effects which are not presently understood or gauged. Also some of these brain ares as expected from rat or mouse model studies may behave differently in man over a period of time accentuating the problems and uncertainty. A better method would be to simultaneously address the issue of what enzymatic or signalling response the pain would have elicited in the system in terms of treating the underlying mechanism and causes thanks SURESHKUMAR,SCIENTIST AND ADVISER,POLICY NIIST,TRIVANDRUM