News Archive

Researchers have discovered a class of drugs that have the potential to boost levels of endocannabinoids, the body’s own pain-relieving compounds, specifically at sites of inflammation. The lead compounds…

For a woman with vulvodynia, everyday activities—sitting, walking, even standing—can evoke burning or knife-like pain. This common condition involves chronic pain in the vulva, especially the vaginal opening, which…

Overactivity of primary sensory neurons is a hallmark of neuropathic pain, and a collection of ion channels known as hyperpolarization-activated, cyclic nucleotide-gated (HCN) channels appears to help propel that…

For over 30 years, neurobiologists have flirted with kappa opioid receptors as possible targets for pain treatment in the central nervous system (CNS; Pasternak, 1980). That relationship, however, hasn’t…

Transient receptor potential (TRP) channels in sensory neurons serve as first responders to painful stimuli, and when overactive, can drive pathological pain. Two recent studies make headway in understanding…

Why does injury or surgery in some people lead to lasting pain, while in others the wound heals and the pain resolves along with it? A new study takes…

Linchpins of pain transmission, voltage-gated sodium (Nav) channels generate action potentials in neurons. They are the sites of action of local anesthetics, and popular targets for new analgesic drug…

A novel translational study has revealed the chemokine CXCL5 as an important mediator of the inflammatory pain that occurs after sunburn. In a role reversal for humans and animal…

The list of molecular suspects in chronic pain is chock full of ion channels. Throughout pain pathways, these proteins nestle in cell membranes and regulate the influx of positively…