title: Evidence for the endothelin system as an emerging therapeutic target for the treatment of chronic pain.
abstract: Many people worldwide suffer from pain and a portion of these sufferers are diagnosed with a chronic pain condition. The management of chronic pain continues to be a challenge, and despite taking prescribed medication for pain, patients continue to have pain of moderate severity. Current pain therapies are often inadequate, with side effects that limit medication adherence. There is a need to identify novel therapeutic targets for the management of chronic pain. One potential candidate for the treatment of chronic pain is therapies aimed at modulating the vasoactive peptide endothelin-1. In addition to vasoactive properties, endothelin-1 has been implicated in pain transmission in both humans and animal models of nociception. Endothelin-1 directly activates nociceptors and potentiates the effect of other algogens, including capsaicin, formalin, and arachidonic acid. In addition, endothelin-1 has been shown to be involved in inflammatory pain, cancer pain, neuropathic pain, diabetic neuropathy, and pain associated with sickle cell disease. Therefore, endothelin-1 may prove a novel therapeutic target for the relief of many types of chronic pain.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Physiology and Neuroscience, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA.
authors.forename: Terika P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Physiology and Neuroscience, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA.
authors.forename: Tami
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Haymond
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Physiology and Neuroscience, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA.
authors.forename: Sherika N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Physiology and Neuroscience, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA ; Department of Pharmaceutical and Administrative Sciences, Presbyterian College School of Pharmacy, Clinton, SC, USA.
authors.forename: Sarah M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Sweitzer
keywords: acute pain; chronic pain; endothelin receptor antagonists; endothelin-1