New Techniques Get At Pain Where It Hurts
WebMD News Archive
Nov. 8, 2000 -- Thanks to modern biotechnology, the information superhighway may offer safer, more effective treatments for pain control and neurological diseases.
This information superhighway is not the Internet, but rather a sci-fi sounding nerve function called axonal transport, which allows communication between nerves by moving molecules from one end of the nerve to the other, over distances as long as four feet.
"Using the nerve itself as a conduit is the first true 21st century drug treatment," researcher Aaron Filler, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of neurosurgery at the University of California, Los Angeles, tells WebMD. "No one has realized the therapeutic possibilities until now."
Delivering drug molecules directly to pain-sensitive nerves allows more complete, longer-lasting relief with fewer side effects. Filler's research and other novel approaches to pain control were unveiled this week at the Society for Neuroscience's annual meeting in New Orleans.
"There's a lot of excitement about this among neuroscientists," Filler says. "It's like the discovery of Post-It Notes -- how do you put together old technology to do something new?"
A painkiller taken by mouth or even injected into the veins faces a perilous journey. Before reaching its intended target, it may be broken down by substances in the gut or liver, then flushed out by the kidney. To reach the brain or spinal cord, drugs must cross a roadblock called the blood-brain barrier. And drugs traveling in the bloodstream also reach other organs, causing unwanted side effects such as sleepiness, nausea, and even breathing problems.
Filler's research bypasses these problems by using axonal transport to carry drugs along the nerve to where they are needed most -- the spinal cord or brain, depending on the problem being treated. To safely convey drugs within the nerve, his group has designed a special molecule called an axonal transport facilitator that carries about 100 molecules of the drug being used. Like passengers on a bus, drug molecules can get off at different stops along the nerve or take the whole trip to the nerve cell body, where they provide long-lasting pain relief.