scholarly journals Effect of Oxaliplatin on Voltage-Gated Sodium Channels in Peripheral Neuropathic Pain

Processes ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 680 ◽  
Author(s):  
Woojin Kim

Oxaliplatin is a chemotherapeutic drug widely used to treat various types of tumors. However, it can induce a serious peripheral neuropathy characterized by cold and mechanical allodynia that can even disrupt the treatment schedule. Since the approval of the agent, many laboratories, including ours, have focused their research on finding a drug or method to decrease this side effect. However, to date no drug that can effectively reduce the pain without causing any adverse events has been developed, and the mechanism of the action of oxaliplatin is not clearly understood. On the dorsal root ganglia (DRG) sensory neurons, oxaliplatin is reported to modify their functions, such as the propagation of the action potential and induction of neuropathic pain. Voltage-gated sodium channels in the DRG neurons are important, as they play a major role in the excitability of the cell by initiating the action potential. Thus, in this small review, eight studies that investigated the effect of oxaliplatin on sodium channels of peripheral neurons have been included. Its effects on the duration of the action potential, peak of the sodium current, voltage–response relationship, inactivation current, and sensitivity to tetrodotoxin (TTX) are discussed.

2021 ◽  
Vol 292 ◽  
pp. 03065
Author(s):  
Zhaojia Wang ◽  
Zhenning Zhou

Tetrodotoxin (TTX), a blocker of sodium channels, exists in the pufferfish, amphibians, and octopus, and originated in endosymbiont-vibrio. Researches have confirmed that TTX affected the action potential through the regulation of voltage-gated sodium channels (VGSCs) and the ingestion of TTX inhibits the nerve signal’s transmission, showing symptoms like rapid weakening and paralysis of the muscles. Recent research shows that TTX’s medical value as the analgesic is mainly focused. The comparison on efficacy among placebo, TTX, and opioids manifests that TTX is healthy and effective in treating neuropathic pain. Moreover, since the drug is synthesized by TTX, it can block specific neurons to alleviate the pain on different parts of the body accurately. Currently speaking, TTX has been widely used as medicine for the alleviation of cancer pain. The mechanism, symptoms, application, and treatment are thoroughly discussed to popularize TTX and pass the “torch” to the new generation because there is still a long way to go—the unsolved mysteries of TTX awaiting humans.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 358-368
Author(s):  
J. Deva Anban ◽  
J. Sharmi Kumar ◽  
C. James ◽  
Sayantan Pradhan

Background: Local anesthetics are widely used to decrease sensitivity to pain in specific regions of the body while performing medical tasks. Many studies have probed the mechanism of action of local anesthetics but still many questions remain. (2R - (-) 2 - (2, 6-dimethylphenylaminocarbonyl) - 1 – methyl piperidinium chloride (DAMP), is an extensively used amide-type local anesthetic. Objective: This study aims at revealing the various electrophysical and chemical properties of the title compound. This study will be useful for future research by pharmacologists. Method: Density Functional Theory (DFT) computations were executed using Gaussian’09 program package and were optimized with the B3LYP /6-311+G (d, p) basis set. Natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis was carried out with version 3.1. Normal Coordinate Analysis (NCA) was used to systematically calculate the harmonic vibrational wavenumbers. Molecular docking simulations were carried out to understand the pharmacokinetic behavior of the drug. Results: The presence of strong N-H…Cl intra molecular hydrogen bonding was evidently revealed from the FT-IR spectrum due to the shifting of NH stretching wavenumber. Stability of the molecule arising from hyper conjugative interactions exhibits the bioactivity of the molecule by natural bond orbital analysis. The title molecule binds to the inner pore and blocks voltage - gated sodium channels in peripheral neurons. Conclusion: A detailed molecular picture of DAMP and its interactions were obtained by modeling analysis, IR, Raman, and UV-Vis spectroscopy. The geometrical parameters agree well with the XRD data. NBO analysis indicates the bioactivity of the molecule. The HOMO-LUMO energy gap indicates the possibility of intramolecular charge transfer of the molecule. From the ligand docking studies it is concluded that the title molecule binds to the inner pore and blocks voltage - gated sodium channels in peripheral neurons.


2005 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 1744-8069-1-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammed A Nassar ◽  
Alessandra Levato ◽  
L Caroline Stirling ◽  
John N Wood

Two voltage gated sodium channel α-subunits, Nav1.7 and Nav1.8, are expressed at high levels in nociceptor terminals and have been implicated in the development of inflammatory pain. Mis-expression of voltage-gated sodium channels by damaged sensory neurons has also been implicated in the development of neuropathic pain, but the role of Nav1.7 and Nav1.8 is uncertain. Here we show that deleting Nav1.7 has no effect on the development of neuropathic pain. Double knockouts of both Nav1.7 and Nav1.8 also develop normal levels of neuropathic pain, despite a lack of inflammatory pain symptoms and altered mechanical and thermal acute pain thresholds. These studies demonstrate that, in contrast to the highly significant role for Nav1.7 in determining inflammatory pain thresholds, the development of neuropathic pain does not require the presence of either Nav1.7 or Nav1.8 alone or in combination.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mara Almog ◽  
Tal Barkai ◽  
Angelika Lampert ◽  
Alon Korngreen

AbstractExploring the properties of action potentials is a crucial step towards a better understanding of the computational properties of single neurons and neural networks. The voltage-gated sodium channel is a key player in action potential generation. A comprehensive grasp of the gating mechanism of this channel can shed light on the biophysics of action potential generation. Most models of voltage-gated sodium channels assume it obeys a concerted Hodgkin and Huxley kinetic gating scheme. Here we performed high resolution voltage-clamp experiments from nucleated patches extracted from the soma of layer 5 (L5) cortical pyramidal neurons in rat brain slices. We show that the gating mechanism does not follow traditional Hodgkin and Huxley kinetics and that much of the channel voltage-dependence is probably due to rapid closed-closed transitions that lead to substantial onset latency reminiscent of the Cole-Moore effect observed in voltage-gated potassium conductances. This may have key implications for the role of sodium channels in synaptic integration and action potential generation.


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