“To relieve chronic pain”: A new way to control the sense of touch has been discovered

The study revealed a natural molecule, called phosphatidic acid, that can reduce the activity of some ion channels that sense touch in the body.

The researchers found that increasing levels of phosphatidic acid in the cells made them less sensitive to touch. This discovery was confirmed by experiments on sensory neurons and tests on mice, where the animals became more sensitive to touch when the formation of phosphatidic acid was inhibited.

“The identification of a natural molecule that specifically reduces pain sensitivity offers hope for new therapeutic strategies in pain management,” said Tibor Rohacs, professor in the Department of Pharmacology, Physiology and Neuroscience at Rutgers University School of Medicine. “Our goal is to translate the findings into effective treatments that improve the quality of life for people with chronic pain.”

“By targeting the natural pathways that regulate these channels, we can develop more targeted and effective pain treatments, which could be particularly useful for conditions involving inflammatory pain, where current pain relief options are often inadequate,” said the study’s first author, Matthew Gabriel, a doctoral student in the Rohacs lab at Rutgers University School of Medicine.

The study was published in the journal Nature Communications.

Source: Medical Express