In a significant breakthrough that could alleviate the suffering of millions, researchers from The University of Texas at Austin, alongside colleagues from The University of Texas at Dallas and the University of Miami, have uncovered a potential non-opioid treatment for chronic pain. The promising findings, detailed in a recent publication in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, introduce a new compound that exhibits substantial pain-relieving properties without the risk of addiction that plagues current opioid therapies.
Neuropathic pain, often described as a sensation of electric shocks, tingling, burning, or stabbing, has proven notoriously challenging to manage. Now, afflicted patients, sometimes burdened by diabetes, multiple sclerosis, or chemotherapy side effects, may have a reason for hope thanks to molecule FEM-1689, which targets a protein linked to neuropathic pain. Despite being effective in trials involving mice, as reported by UT Austin, the compound's potential in humans remains to be validated.
"When we tested it on different models, diabetic neuropathy and chemotherapy-induced neuropathy, for example, we found this compound has an incredible beneficial effect," Stephen Martin, the June and J. Virgil Waggoner Regents Chair in Chemistry at UT Austin and co-corresponding author of the paper, told UT Austin. FEM-1689 doesn't interact with the body's opioid receptors, unlike conventional painkillers, circumventing the menace of addiction that typically shadows their use.
The innovative compound also appears to modulate the integrated stress response (ISR), a cellular signaling network that facilitates the body's recovery from injuries and disease. When maladjusted, the ISR can fuel the development of maladies including cancer and diabetes, according to UT Austin. "It's our goal to make this compound into a drug that can be used to treat chronic pain without the dangers of opioids," Martin added, underscoring the crucial objective of the research.
NuvoNuro Inc., co-founded by Martin and other researchers attached to the study, received a grant from the National Institutes of Health HEAL Initiative to develop a drug based on their promising findings. "This work is the culmination of a wonderful five-year collaboration with our colleagues at UT Austin and is a great example of academic drug discovery pushing the field of non-opioid pain therapeutics forward," said Theodore Price, a neuroscience professor at UT Dallas and co-corresponding author on the paper. The infusion of NIH funding through NuvoNuro raises the prospect of propelling this discovery toward clinical development soon, stirring considerable excitement among the scientific community.
The extensive roster of authors on the paper includes Muhammad Saad Yousuf, Eric T. David, Stephanie Shiers, Marisol Mancilla Moreno, Jonathan Iketem, Danielle M. Royer, Chelsea D. Garcia, Jennifer Zhang, Veronica M. Hong, Subhaan M. Mian, Ayesha Ahmad and Benedict J. Kolber of The University of Texas at Dallas; James J. Sahn and Hongfen Yang of UT Austin; and Daniel J. Liebl of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. The project's financial underpinning comprises contributions from the National Institutes of Health, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and the Robert A. Welch Foundation.
With an enduring commitment to transparency, UT Austin has disclosed that the researchers involved in the study have completed all necessary financial disclosure requirements with the institution. Notably, Stephen Martin and James Sahn, having dual roles as co-founders of NuvoNuro Inc., are also co-inventors on patents and pending patent applications which are directly connected to the research described in the published article.
