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A modified form of botulinum toxin, popularly known as botox, provides relief of chronic pain without adverse effects according to a study published Wednesday in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
Researchers from University College London (UCL) deconstructed the botulinum molecule and reassembled it with an opioid type, which resulted in a compound that silenced pain signals in the spinal cord of mice.
"Injected into the spine, relieves chronic pain, such as that caused by nerve damage, and avoids the undesirable reactions of tolerance and dependence often associated with the repeated use of opioid drugs, "says lead author Steve Hunt of the UCL
According to the researcher, this The mixture eva n '# 39; does not affect muscles like botulinum toxin used to reduce wrinkles, but it blocks the nerve pain up to four months without affecting the normal responses to pain.
Hunt felt that this product "could revolutionize the way whose chronic pain is treated "if it is transferred to the clinic because it would eliminate the need for a daily intake of opioid.
Chronic pain of "moderate to severe" intensity is widespread and affects 7.8 million people. United Kingdom and 19% of European adults
Opioids such as morphine and fentanyl are considered the usual mechanism of pain relief, but there is little evidence that their use is effective in the long term in the treatment of pain. treatment. of chronic pain
It is because the body develops a tolerance to repeated use
Another point against the use of opioids is that they can activate the areas of the brain that cause addiction. More than 2 million people in the United States, for example, have an opioid consumption disorder.
In an attempt to solve this problem, the Hunt-led team developed a molecular system for the creation of long-acting painkillers.
Over a five-year period, they used 200 mice to simulate the early stages of neuropathic and inflammatory pain in humans and were treated with a single injection of the mixture, another modification of the botulinum molecule . or morphine
The behavior of mice was monitored to track their response to pain and localization and binding properties of botulinum compounds were studied .
"We were impressed to see that a small injection of the mixture developed was sufficient to stop the chronic pain caused by inflammation by at least a month ," he said. Maria Maiarù, another researcher from the UCL team
Source: EFE
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