What desensitises naked mole-rats to pain revealed

Tiny naked mole-rats do not produce a body chemical called Substance P, which is released by pain fibres that send signals to the central nervous system in mammals as an when they make contact with things that cause long-lasting, achy pain. This finding is important as it may one day lead to the development of new analgesic drugs for people with chronic pain who do not respond well to current medication. Thomas Park, associate professor of biological sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and Gary Lewin of the Max Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) in Berlin used a modified herpes cold sore virus to carry genes for Substance P to the rodents’ nerve fibres. The research group restored Substance P and the naked mole-rats’ ability to sense the burning sensation, which is felt by other mammals upon being subjected to capsaicin, the active ingredient in chilli peppers. The restored sensitivity was limited to just one rear foot of each tested rodent. According to the researcher, this study provides an opportunity to gain deeper knowledge about the neurotransmitter Substance P. “This is important specifically to the long-term, secondary-order inflammatory pain. It’s the pain that can last for hours or days when you pull a muscle or have a surgical procedure,” he said. The study has been published in the free-access journal PLoS Biology.

Source: http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/health/what-desensitises-naked-mole-rats-to-pain-revealed_10015093.html