Scientists from Australia’s national science agency found for the first time how tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) work against nerve pain.
The finding paves the way for further research and new therapies to treat the debilitating condition.
The research is published in RSC Medicinal Chemistry and was conducted by Peter Duggan et al.
Nerve pain is usually chronic and can be experienced for a range of reasons such as cancer, diabetes, trauma, infection, and multiple sclerosis.
Its symptoms vary from shooting or throbbing pain, burning, freezing or electrical shock sensations, tingling, itchiness, oversensitivity, or numbness.
The best current treatments only work to a useful degree on every third or fourth person who receives them.
TCAs are drugs used to treat depression, bipolar disorder, and other conditions such as chronic pain and insomnia.
Although TCAs are frequently prescribed for nerve pain, why and how they work to reduce pain hasn’t been fully understood until now.
In the study, the team showed exactly how 11 TCAs and two closely related drugs worked to block pain and identified which ones were most effective.
They hope the discovery would lead to the development of a new type of drug that worked in a similar way, without any potential side effects.
They say these types of antidepressants are commonly used to treat pain, so we know they can be effective, but until now we haven’t understood what is happening at a cellular level.
The next step is to look at developing whole new therapies that target the same nerve receptors and eliminates any potential side effects.
With further work already underway, the team is aiming to provide the scientific basis that leads to the design of more effective drugs to improve the lives of people living with nerve pain.
If you care about pain, please read studies about pain reliever linked to hip fractures in old people, and this flower may advance the treatment of chronic pain.
For more information about pain, please see recent studies about how to reduce post-surgical pain without opioids, and results showing this therapy can effectively treat pain, depression, and anxiety.
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