Investigating Mechanisms and Therapies for Chronic Neuropathic Pain: The Role of TNFR2
Abstract
According to data from a National Health Interview Survey study on American military personnel, male and female Veterans experience chronic pain and more severe chronic pain in greater numbers than non-Veterans. Pain is a natural signal that indicates a problem and can be the result of disease, injury, or inflammation, and comes suddenly before disappearing usually (acute pain). However, the pain can become chronic and require long-term treatment. We are aiming to study how a protein named Tumor Necrosis Factor receptor 2 (TNFR2) can alleviate chronic pain. Our laboratory studies neuropathic pain that results from damage to the nervous system: we use a model where the sciatic nerve of mice is lightly compressed (Chronic Constriction Injury) that mimics nerve damage and a model of multiple sclerosis, which is known to cause pain to patients. In both models, the activation of TNFR2 was able to relieve the pain felt by the animal, and for both sexes. The current proposal aims at studying the molecular events that are activated in specific cells of the nervous system to better apprehend the mode of action of our molecules. It is our hope that this activation of TNFR2 could prove a new therapy for chronic neuropathic pain, which has led us to develop a new molecule more suitable for human use that we want to test as part of our study to confirm its potential for becoming included in future treatment regimens. Our study will help us getting closer to develop a new non-opioid receptor-targeted therapy for the treatment of chronic pain, one of the focus areas outlined in the Chronic Pain Management Research Program of the Department of Defense. This potential new therapy has shown great promise and efficacy in several animal models. We think it has the possibility to be able to treat chronic pain originating from various conditions for a broad range of patients, including the military Veterans who develop more painful conditions than non-Veteran people.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Dec 05, 2021
- Source ID
- W81XWH2110599
Entities
People
- John Bethea
Organizations
- Drexel University
- United States Army