A new gene therapy developed by scientists could bring hope to the more than 50 million Americans who live with chronic pain.
In a recent preclinical study, researchers discovered a way to target pain centers in the brain without using opioids or risking addiction. The results were published in the journal Nature and represent a major step forward in pain treatment.
Living with chronic pain is like listening to a radio with the volume stuck at full blast. Nothing seems to quiet the noise. While opioid drugs like morphine can help reduce pain, they affect many parts of the brain and can cause dangerous side effects or lead to addiction.
This new therapy is designed to work like a volume knob that turns down only the pain signal, without touching anything else. It was created by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine and School of Nursing, along with Carnegie Mellon University and Stanford University.
“The goal was to reduce pain while avoiding the risks that come with narcotics,” said Dr. Gregory Corder, a co-author of the study and assistant professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience at Penn. “We focused on the exact brain circuits that morphine affects, hoping to find a safer solution.”
Morphine and similar drugs work well to relieve pain but are highly addictive. Over time, patients build up a tolerance and need larger doses to get the same relief. This increases the risk of overdose and dependence.
To develop the new therapy, the scientists first studied how pain is tracked in the brain. They used advanced imaging tools to see which brain cells respond to pain and how morphine affects them.
Then, using artificial intelligence, they built a system in mice to monitor natural behavior and determine pain levels. This helped the team design a gene therapy that could turn off the pain without causing the euphoria or reward response that leads to addiction.
When used in mice, the gene therapy gave lasting pain relief without affecting other senses or causing side effects. It targeted only the areas of the brain that sense pain, leaving other brain functions untouched.
Dr. Corder described it as the world’s first gene therapy designed specifically for pain in the central nervous system. It could be the start of a new class of non-addictive treatments for people suffering from long-term pain.
The study is especially important at a time when the opioid crisis continues to take lives. In 2019 alone, around 600,000 deaths were related to drug use, with 80% involving opioids. In Philadelphia, nearly half of residents surveyed said they knew someone with opioid use disorder, and one-third knew someone who had died from an overdose.
Chronic pain is sometimes called a “silent epidemic” and costs the U.S. more than $635 billion each year. These costs come from both medical treatment and lost productivity, such as people missing work or being unable to earn a full income.
This gene therapy could offer a way to relieve pain without feeding into the opioid crisis. The next steps will include more testing and eventually, clinical trials in humans.
Dr. Michael Platt, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, is helping to lead the next phase. “As a scientist and someone with loved ones who live with chronic pain, I’m hopeful,” he said. “This could bring real relief without the risk of addiction.”
If you care about pain, please read studies about how to manage your back pain, and Krill oil could improve muscle health in older people.
For more health information, please see recent studies about how to live pain-free with arthritis, and results showing common native American plant may help reduce diarrhea and pain.
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