Voltage-gated sodium channel blockers for the treatment of neuropathic pain

Abstract

Pain serves a crucial physiological function, warning the body of impending or actual tissue damage, preventing further damage and aiding the healing process. Neuropathic pain, resulting from nervous system injury or dysfunction, can be a serious medical problem and especially difficult to treat. Although sodium channel blockers are clinically useful for treating pain, they often provide only partial relief and adverse effects associated with nonspecific actions can limit their use. Research on the roles of sodium channels in neuronal excitability and pain shows that specific sodium channel isoforms are crucial determinants of nociception and neuropathic pain, indicating that it should be possible to develop sodium channel blockers with lower toxicity and enhanced efficacy for treating neuropathic pain.

Keywords::

• analgesia
• analgesic
• local anesthetic
• neuropathic pain
• nociceptive neuron
• sodium channel blocker
• voltage-gated sodium channel

Financial & competing interests disclosure

TR Cummins has acted as a consultant and received a grant from Schwarz Biosciences. AM Rush is an employee of NeuroSolutions Ltd., which provides electrophysiological assays and services to the biopharmaceutical industry. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.