Prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP), seen here on the membranes of pain-sensing neurons (yellow), enduringly suppresses chronic pain. PAP could potentially provide long-lasting pain relief when administered before injury or inflammation, such as before surgery. (Photo: Mark Zylka)
CHAPEL HILL, NC – Here’s good news for chronic pain sufferers. Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have found a way to halt chronic pain by stealing a key molecule from a major pain pathway. The finding may dramatically reduce chronic pain in many surgical patients.
An enzyme, prostatic acid phosphatase, or PAP, the researchers found, blocks pain in animal models by siphoning off a molecule called PIP2—a critical component of the chemical cascade behind chronic pain.
What’s more, PAP appears to keep on blocking pain symptoms long after it is injected.
“If you inject PAP before nerve injury or before causing inflammation, PAP has a very long-lasting effect on the pain sensitization that follows,” said Mark Zylka, lead researcher. “It has the potential to block or dramatically reduce pain, possibly in surgical settings.”
Millions suffer chronic pain
Tens of millions of Americans suffer from chronic pain. This long-lasting pain is caused by a series of events along nerve cell membranes that make neurons hypersensitive. Injecting excess PAP into the system triggers a parallel series of reactions that makes it harder for this pain cascade to fire.
“Essentially PAP robs the cell of PIP2 so pro-pain pathways can’t signal as effectively,” explained Zylka. The team conducted their research using cell cultures and mice.
Using PAP to deplete PIP2 represents a promising new approach to treating chronic pain. “This is something people haven’t really focused on yet,” Zylka said. “We’re going right to the source of these pathways.”
In previous studies using mice, the team found that injecting PAP after an injury reduces sensitivity to both heat (like touching a hot burner) and mechanical sensitization (like the pain from brushing sunburned skin) for three days.
Patients undergoing major surgery occasionally receive pain relievers through spinal injections just before the surgery begins. This study suggests that injecting PAP along with those other pain relievers might reduce patients’ need for analgesics like opiates in the days following surgery. Future studies with patients will be needed to verify these possibilities.
“Ultimately, we’re very interested in other pain-related mechanisms that regulate PIP2 levels in cells. Any one of those mechanisms could be targeted for the treatment of chronic pain,” Zylka said. Such research could provide new drugs for patients who already have chronic pain.
To contact TechJournal South Editor & Writer Allan Maurer: Allan at TechJournalSouth dot com.
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Tags: Biotech, chronic pain, NC, Pharma, UNC Chapel Hill, University research
