One such type of pain is chemotherapy induced neuropathic pain (CINP), which is among the most common clinical complications associated with the use of anti-cancer drugs. It is a significant dose-limiting and treatment-limiting side effect of treatment.

The CINP occurs in nearly 68.1 percent of the cancer patients receiving chemotherapeutic drugs.

The therapeutic glory of TRPV1 is well recognized in clinics which give a promising insight into the treatment of pain.

According to him, the adverse effects associated with some of the antagonists directed the scientists towards RNA interference (RNAi), a tool to silence gene expression.

TRPV1 is widely present in the nerve cells and it has been reported that the higher expression of TRPV1 plays a critical role in chemotherapy-induced pain.

This unrelenting pain responds poorly to common analgesics and even opioids. The available treatment for CINP has some severe side-effects.

This was the triggering question when scientists ventured into research on TRPV1 siRNA formulation.

For this, Dr Nimisha Verma and Dr Vinod Tiwari came up with a novel solution to this problem through genetic engineering and nanotechnology.

According to them, the research involves the blocking of expression of TRPV1 receptor through a small interfering RNA molecule (siRNA).

The novel siRNA formulation suggested by the ongoing research has shown quick management of pain without side-effects which would be very effective for the patients.

Source: IANS