title: New treatments for neuropathic pain.
abstract: Existing treatments for neuropathic pain deliver inadequate pain relief, unacceptable side effects, or both. The unmet medical need for more effective treatment is driving a large volume of research to discover new drugs. Most existing treatments are drugs introduced to treat other pain conditions or other medical conditions, such as antidepressants and anticonvulsants, which were found empirically to be effective for neuropathic pain. Only recently have drug discovery efforts have become mechanistically driven, addressing targets identified by a molecular neurobiological approach to the pathophysiology of neuropathic states.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthetics, Imperial College, Chelsea & Westminster Hospital Campus, London SW10 9NH, United Kingdom. a.rice@imperial.ac.uk
authors.forename: Andrew S C
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Rice
authors.forename: Raymond G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Hill
mesh_terms: D000322:Adrenergic Agonists / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002121:Calcium Channel Blockers / Q000627:therapeutic use; D018691:Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D009437:Neuralgia / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D009479:Neuropeptides / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D026941:Sodium Channel Blockers / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D000322:Adrenergic Agonists; D000701:Analgesics, Opioid; D002121:Calcium Channel Blockers; D018691:Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists; D009479:Neuropeptides; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors; D026941:Sodium Channel Blockers