A Novel Technique For Prolonged Silencing Of Visceral Pain Without Opiates
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$637,383.00
Summary
There has been substantial interest in the community for pain relief without opiates. This project demonstrates a new strategy to suppress pain at the source for prolonged periods, by suppressing activity in the sensory nerve endings that detect pain, not by acting in central pathways like opiates. To do this, we use a harmless virus to shut down a vital sodium channel for pain perception. These experiments use techniques that were recently developed in our lab and cant be performed elsewhere.
Interaction Of TRP Channels And Inflammatory Mediators: A Critical Role In Visceral Pain
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$308,747.00
Summary
Transient receptor potential, or TRP channels, are involved in generating many of the sensations we feel, such as touch and pain. The function of these channels can be altered by substances released by the body during inflammation. Some TRP channels have specialized roles in signalling pain from the colon which can be enhanced during colonic inflammation. Understanding how TRP channels and inflammatory mediators function and interact is essential if we are to find treatments for colonic pain.
The role of the immune system in pain is emerging from recent discoveries, and may hold the key to novel pain treatments. Most people experience brief gut infections from food or contagion without long-term consequences. Many others suffer symptoms for years afterwards - probably the best example of immune-based pain. Our project investigates how immune cells communicate with sensory nerves, and how these communications change from both angles after gut infection or inflammation.
Transient Receptor Potential Channels (TRPs) As Transducers And Targets In Primary Visceral Afferents
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$669,130.00
Summary
Transient receptor potential, or TRP channels, are involved in generating many of the sensations we perceive, such as heat, cold, touch and pain. Some TRP channels are specialized to signal pain from visceral organs, which we must investigate if we are to find treatments for visceral pain, which are currently lacking.
Ion Channels Underlying Inflammatory And Post-inflammatory Visceral Mechanical Hypersensitivity
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$453,439.00
Summary
Inflammation causes tissue damage that triggers ion channels within sensory nerve fibres to produce greater signals in response to mechanical events, causing acute pain. In chronic pain, although the inflamed tissue has healed, sensory nerve fibres fail to "reset" back to normal. Often chronic pain is more severe than acute pain. This project will identify which ion channels are responsible for signalling acute and chronic visceral pain, explaining why sensory nerve fibres fail to reset.
Immune Activation In Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$471,597.00
Summary
Up to 30% of Australians are estimated to suffer from Functional Gastrointestinal Diseases such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Functional Dyspepsia, but the cause of these chronic diseases is unknown. Alterations in the immune system are increasingly suggested, but little is known about how this leads to the debilitating symptoms of discomfort and pain. This project combines immunology studies with neuroscience to determine the key mediators involved and how they communicate with nerves.