Scientists say a new form of Botox has been developed that could help millions of Britons get rid of chronic pain and become available to the general public within five years.
The upgraded Botox will be able to treat the estimated 5 million people in the UK who suffer from neuropathic pain due to nerve damage from diseases, injuries and infections such as stroke, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, cancer, shingles and surgery.
It can also help with pain associated with Parkinson’s disease and epilepsy, and even relieve pain that is not related to nerve damage, such as some migraine symptoms, researchers say.
Botox is modified in such a way that it does not paralyze the muscles, as it happens when smoothing wrinkles in cosmetic procedures.
According to a study published in the journal Life Science Alliance, the new treatment was very effective in rats, reducing their pain by 80 percent.
And the researchers said it might even be more effective for people, though they note that some pain is needed for people to protect their injuries because “essentially, pain promotes healing.”
Canine treatment trials are currently planned, and researchers are gearing up to conduct human clinical trials by 2028, which they hope will lead to Botox injections being used “in the next five years” and becoming available in the healthcare system.” said the lead researcher. Professor Bazbek Davletov I.
The injection will be given every four to five months for people with chronic pain due to nerve damage, a neuropathic pain that affects about 5 million people in the UK.
Chronic pain is extremely difficult to treat as opioid drugs such as morphine and fentanyl can only be used for short-term relief due to the risk of addiction and overdose.
Non-debilitating Botox was not originally used to relieve inflammatory pain such as arthritis, although it may later be used in areas of pain not associated with nerve damage.
“We hope that the developed medicine will be able to improve the quality of life of millions of people suffering from chronic pain,” said Professor Davletov.
“Currently, painkillers can only temporarily relieve chronic pain and often have unwanted side effects. A single injection at the site of pain could potentially relieve pain in people for months, and this needs to be tested now,” he said.
Maria Maiaru of the University of Reading said: “People with chronic pain need new ways to manage their symptoms. They need safer and more effective medicines.
“These novel botulinum molecules are effective in reducing pain behavior in human models of pain. We believe this approach could pave the way for the development of pain treatments to improve the quality of life for millions of people living with chronic pain.”
The cost of the treatment is not clear, but researchers say it will be “relatively cheap” and suggest it could be around £80.
Botox can provide long-term pain relief by blocking the release of neuropeptides and neurotransmitters, chemicals that send pain signals to the brain that, if silenced, eliminate pain.
But while it was promising, the risk of paralysis has so far been a stumbling block to pain relief.
Paralysis occurs when Botox penetrates tiny “sacs” containing neurotransmitters – chemicals that send pain signals to the brain – into cells in damaged areas. Here, the researchers modified Botox to be too big for these tiny pouches and unable to cause paralysis.
But it can still calm pain-related nerves that use large “bags” of neurotransmitters.
Professor Bazbeck disassembled Botox – short for the neurotoxic protein botulinum neurotoxin produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum – into its component parts and put them back together.
“He enlarged the molecule by attaching extensions to individual parts before putting the parts together, and now this new design no longer penetrates the nerve endings that come into contact with the muscles. So no paralysis.
Just like an extendable dining table does not leave the dining room until the flaps are down,” says Professor Steve Hunt from University College London.
Professor Bazbek founded the American startup Neuresta to prepare for human trials.
The treatment could potentially also be used to treat chronic pain associated with other ongoing neurological conditions, such as Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, and possibly even some cases of migraine, Prof. Davletov said.
“Nerve damage can result from a variety of factors, including trauma, surgery, diabetes, cancer, chemotherapy, viral infections, and last but not least, immune disorders such as multiple sclerosis. In all these cases, chronic pain occurs, and we hope that we can treat it with modified Botox.
“For other neurological diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease, we need to treat other symptoms that affect quality of life, such as excessive salivation, which can also lead to lung infections. Our non debilitating Botox would be a better treatment than local Botox injections into the salivary glands to reduce saliva secretion without unwanted side effects. In addition, precise injections of non-paralyzing Botox are ideal for blocking the local cranial nerves that cause epilepsy.”
He adds: “An example of chronic pain without overt nerve damage is migraine. Accordingly, severe migraine is the only pain condition currently approved for Botox injections. Unfortunately, only 50 percent of patients report improvement, but large doses of Botox cannot be administered due to muscle paralysis. Potentially, our non-debilitating Botox could bring relief to a larger group of migraine sufferers.”
Jahangir Maleki, pain specialist at Cleveland Clinical Hospital in the US and member of the Neuresta Scientific Advisory Board, said: “This development is likely the next major milestone in pain management since the discovery of the endogenous opiate system half a century ago. “.
Source: I News
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