The team's research results are published in the July edition of Nature Medicine, one of the most prestigious science journals in the world.

"This is an extremely important, rewarding discovery for us. This finding will help us develop new drugs to treat people coping with painful health conditions -– arthritis, Crohn's disease, irritable bowel syndrome, and diabetes," says John Wallace, PhD, a lead author of the research paper and professor of pharmacology and therapeutics, U of C.

Along with Wallace, the primary authors of this paper are U of C researchers Dr. Morley Hollenberg, PhD, Keith Sharkey, PhD, and Nathalie Vergnolle, PhD, the NicOx Investigator in Inflammation Research. The research team includes colleagues from California, Pennsylvania, Harvard, and Naples, Italy.

The pain receptor that Wallace's team has identified -- called PAR-2 -– is found in the skin, in joints and in the digestive system. The research study used animal models to show what happens in the neurons to trigger this pain receptor, and how those pain signals are then transmitted to the spinal cord and brain.

Study findings show that this receptor appears to be particularly important in the pain associated with inflammatory diseases: arthritis, Crohn's, pancreatitis and neuropathy.

"The next phase of this research is for us to develop and test powerful new drugs that will block this receptor," says Wallace. "Our goal is to discover potent pain killers that do not have the side-effects of existing drugs, or addictive properties of medications like morphine."

Wallace's research team has already identified a plant-based substance that appears to interfere with this pain receptor. A clinical trial involving a small group of patients is currently underway with results expected within a year.

This research was supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Johnson & Johnson, the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research, and the National Institutes of Health. - By Karen Thomas

[Contact: Karen Thomas]

11-Jul-2001