Potential Neuropathic Pain Treatment Shows Promise in Preclinical Tests

A non-opioid designer molecule for treating chronic neuropathic pain by calming hyperactive pain-sensing neurons in the peripheral nervous system has had promising results in a preclinical study conducted by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine and the Burke Neurological Institute. In the study, published August 9, 2023 in the British Journal of Anaesthesia, the first-in-class drug conceptualized by lead author Gareth Tibbs, PhD, was found to function according to its design at both the molecular level and as an apparently side-effect-free pain reliever in rats. The BJA article is titled “An Anchor–Tether ‘Hindered’ HCN1 Inhibitor Is Antihyperalgesic in a Rat Spared Nerve Injury Neuropathic Pain Model.”