HEALTH MANAGEMENT. Research lays the Foundation for the development of new, targeted pain relievers

A gene for the regulation of chronic pain known as HCN2, has been identified by scientists at the University of Cambridge. HEALTH MANAGEMENT

Biotechnology and the biological of Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the EU-funded research, published today (September 09) in the journal Science, opens the possibility to drugs, the protein produced by the gene to combat chronic pain of blocking. TESCO HEALTH INSURANCE

About one person in seven in the United Kingdom suffers most as arthritis, pain, and headache chronic or long-lasting, pain of some kind, back. Chronic pain there are two main varieties. The first, inflammatory pain, occurs when a permanent damage (e.g. a burning or arthritis) increased sensitivity of pain and sensitive nerve endings, which results in the feeling of pain. HEALTH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

The second of chronic pain, neuropathic pain, in which nerves damage caused constant pain and a hypersensitivity to stimuli is more intractable. Neuropathic pain, which is often lifelong, is surprisingly common and is treated badly by current drugs. Neuropathic pain in patients with diabetes (3.7 m patients in Europe, United States and Japan) is seen as a painful consequences of shingles, and how often a consequence of cancer chemotherapy. Neuropathic pain is also a frequent part of back pain and other chronic pain conditions.
Professor Peter McNaughton, lead author of the study and Director of the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Cambridge, said: "people with neuropathic pain often have little or even no breathing space because mangelnder effective drugs." "Our research lays the groundwork for the development of new drugs for the treatment of chronic pain by blocking HCN2." WPA HEALTH INSURANCE

The HCN2-gen, which is expressed in the pain and sensitive nerve endings, is known for several years, but its role in regulating the pain was not understood. Since a similar, HCN4, a decisive role in controlling the frequency of the electrical activity in the heart plays, scientists believed that HCN2 in a similar way, the frequency of the electrical activity in the pain and could regulate sensitive nerves.
The removal of the gene HCN2 from pain and lower developed the researchers for the study. You then carried out with electrical stimuli on these nerves in cell cultures to determine how their properties by eliminating the HCN2 changed were studies. AHM HEALTH INSURANCE

After much promising results from in vitro studies in cell cultures, the researchers studied genetically modified mice, where the gene of HCN2 deleted been. By measuring the speed, that the mice withdrew from different painful stimuli, the scientists could determine that neuropathic pain the gene HCN2 delete be abolished. Interestingly she found that delete HCN2 normal acute pain (the way of the pain of a sudden breach - such as the tongue bite produced) not affected.

Professor McNaughton added: "many genes play a crucial role in the sensation of pain, yet in most cases they do all the pain, or even all sensation simply abolished,." What is exciting about the work on the HCN2-gen, remove sie-or blocked pharmacologically - eliminated neuropathic pain without affecting the normal acute pain. "This finding could very valuable clinically because normal sensation of pain to prevent property damage is."

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