Researchers at Indiana University are working on a way to use the brain to suppress pain without unwanted side effects such as addiction or a marijuana high.
“The most exciting aspect of this research is the potential to produce the same therapeutic benefits as opioid-based pain relievers without side effects like addiction risk or increased tolerance over time,” said lead researcher Andrea Hohmann, a neuroscientist and professor in the IU Bloomington College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences.
In her work with lab mice, Hohmann discovered that a compound that controls how the brain reacts to THC (the chemical compound in marijuana that causes the feeling of being high) and endocannabinoids (naturally occurring chemical compounds in the body) was able to reduce chronic pain in mice.
These naturally produced compounds, called positive allosteric modulators (PAMS), work by binding to a cannabinoid receptor in the brain called CB1.
Indiana University scientists gave lab mice paclitaxel, a chemotherapy drug that can cause chronic pain, then treated them with CB1 PAM. After displaying a heightened pain response from the paclitaxel, the mice treated with CB1 PAM behaved normally and seemed to experience no pain.
Researchers found that the CB1 PAM treatments remained effective over time, unlike opioids, which require an ever-increasing dosage to provide the same level of pain relief.
So far, the compound has only been tested on mice, and is a few years away from being made available for human use. When and if it becomes available for humans, the discovery could be a breakthrough for the 100 million Americans that suffer from chronic pain. Not only is chronic pain the number one cause of long-term disability in the United States, it has been a key driver of the nationwide opioid epidemic that is now the leading cause of accidental death for Americans. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, opioids kill 115 Americans every day, and experts say the death toll could increase by 35% in the next decade.
