The spinal cord is placed at such a position that works as a pain filter. It assures that the pain is not felt just by feeble stimuli like touching. The ‘inhibitory nerve cells’ that are located in the spinal dorsal horn perform this function. The spinal dorsal horn releases the’ molecule-amino butyric acid (GABA)’at the points of contacts between the specialized nerve cells. It is also called the “synapses”.GABA subsequently causes activation in the chloride channels over these cells and these nerve cells then start relaying the ‘pain signals’ to the brain.

This inhibiting action of GABA gets substantially suppressed in case of the presence of a chronic inflammatory disease like the ‘rheumatoid arthritis’ or the stage of nerve damage by any type of injury. In such a situation the brain starts receiving unfiltered pain signals.

Benzodiazepine like valium, the sedative drug, stimulates the activity of GABA and helps in reducing the acute pain. It acts when the drug is supplemented directly in to the spinal cord with an injection in to the spinal canal. However such treatment is very much specific.

Benzodiazepines are generally prescribed and administered systemically in tablet form. It makes an impact in the spinal cord and also in the brain and could cause some adverse effects for the patients. The drugs cause sedation, impair memory, and can even lead to addiction. It has also been observed that the prolonged use of this drug develops immunity with time. Scientists therefore generally advise to avoid this medication in chronic pain conditions.

Although the importance of GABA as a potential function has long been known in the pain control but the study made by Ulritch Zeilhofer has researched out that there are four different sub-types of GABA on which the benzodiazepines act. These receptors though known, but were almost neglected till recently as a potential targets for pain treatments.

Ulritch Zeilhofer’s research team could identify two distinct sub-types of GABAA receptors that play a role of mediator in the spinal pain control. Results of various experiments conducted revealed that “the pharmacological enhancement of spinal GABA receptor function inhibits the relay of pain signals to the brain”.

Researchers feel that designing a drug that specifically address the two sub-types of GABAA receptors will be a big leap in the pain therapy. If this happens in near future then it will be possible to treat chronic pain with minimum or no side effects. “The challenge is now for pharmaceutical companies to develop drugs that specifically target these receptors in humans”, says Ulritch Zeilhofer.

This article is the property of http://www.Healthpm.com
Copying and publishing any article from our site is strictly NOT allowed.