Mice and people who lack Nav 1.7 produces higher than normal levels of name natural opioid peptides as reported by a study published in Nature communications.
To verify if opioids were significant for painlessness, naloxon (opioid blocker) was issued by researchers to transgenic mice (meaning they were modified to carry genetic material from another organism) lacking Nav 1.7 and found out that they started to feel pain. Thereafter naloxone was administered to a 39-years-old woman with the rare mutation and for the first time she felt pain, as reported.
According to a senior author, professor John Wood of UCL Medicine in his words said
“After a decade of rather disappointing drug trials, we now have confirmation that Nav1.7 really is a key element in human pain.
“The secret ingredient turned out to be good old-fashioned opioid peptides, and we have now filed a patent for combining low dose opioids with Nav1.7 blockers.
“This should replicate the painlessness experienced by people with rare mutations, and we have already successfully tested this approach in unmodified mice.”
Precise physiological experiments showed that the nervous systems of the transgenic mice contained around twice the levels of naturally-produced opioids as unmodified mice from the same litter.
Broad-spectrum sodium channel blockers are used as local anaesthetics, but they are not suitable for long-term pain management as they cause complete numbness (absence of sensitivity) and can have serious side-effects over time. By contrast, people born without working Nav1.7 still feel non-painful touch normally and the only known side-effect is the inability to smell.
Source: www.ucl.ac.uk, www.nature.com, www.punchng.com
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