Potent Analgesic Effects of GDNF in Neuropathic Pain States
Abstract
Neuropathic pain arises as a debilitating consequence of nerve injury. The etiology of such pain is poorly understood, and existing treatment is largely ineffective. We demonstrate here that glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) both prevented and reversed sensory abnormalities that developed in neuropathic pain models, without affecting pain-related behavior in normal animals. GDNF reduces ectopic discharges within sensory neurons after nerve injury. This may arise as a consequence of the reversal by GDNF of the injury-induced plasticity of several sodium channel subunits. Together these findings provide a rational basis for the use of GDNF as a therapeutic treatment for neuropathic pain states.
- Publication:
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Science
- Pub Date:
- October 2000
- DOI:
- 10.1126/science.290.5489.124
- Bibcode:
- 2000Sci...290..124B
- Keywords:
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- NEUROSCIENCE