Neuropathic Pain Mechanisms: Insights from Bench to Bedside

Event/Session Summary

Neuropathic Pain Mechanisms: Insights from Bench to Bedside

In this session, the plethora of underlying molecular mechanisms that initiate, maintain and prolong a chronic pain state following neuropathic injury in animal models will be discussed, with a focus on the plasticity of mechanisms that lead to altered pain perception in  peripheral, spinal and higher brain centres. Emphasis will be based on ion channel dysfunction in sensory neurons, central sensitisation, altered brain processing and changes in descending pathways. The predictive value of laboratory models of neuropathy for human pain processing is a crucial consideration when deliberating the translational worth of pre-clinical research.

In the second part of this session, alterations in descending controls following neuropathy in both rodents and humans will be discussed. The aberrant expression status of descending modulatory pathways in neuropathic animals or patients may be reinstated following the use of the same pharmacological treatments; this knowledge enhances our understanding of the wayward circuitry that drives this particular disease state.

Finally, sensory signs and symptoms are considered when discussing mechanism-based treatment in neuropathic pain. The different approaches used to stratify patients, and their limitations, are presented (Patient Reported Outcome scales/Quantitative Sensory Testing); the ultimate hope is that bedside tests can lead to mechanism-based, and therefore optimal, treatments.

Speakers & Presentations

Kirsty Bannister, PhD (United Kingdom)
Bench and Bedside Views of Neuropathy and the Translational Value of Pre-Clinical and Clinical Research

Daniela Salvemini, PhD (USA)
Novel Non-Opioid Based Therapeutic Approaches for the Treatment of Neuropathic Pain

Ralf Baron, MD, PhD (Germany)
Personalized Medicine: Where Are We Now and Where Are We Going?

Rates

All rates listed in USD

*The Developing Country rate is available to residents of countries with a gross national income of less than $15,000, as defined by the World Bank.