A Single Injection Offers Pain Relief for 8 Months

A new study confirms that a one-time injection of fibronectin--a protein that exists naturally in humans--immediately after spinal cord injury can limit pain for an extended period of time.

Researchers at Cleveland Clinic (OH, USA) and Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland, OH, USA) demonstrated that a one-time injection of fibronectin (50 μg/mL) immediately after spinal cord dorsal-column crush (DCC) inhibits the development of mechanical allodynia--a pain due to a stimulus which does not normally provoke pain--over an 8-month observation period, but does not affect not thermal hyperalgesia, nor overt motor deficits. Fibronectin apparently does this by decreasing serotonin levels, a neurotransmitter that plays an important role in pain perception.

The acute fibronectin treatment diminished inflammation and blood spinal cord barrier permeability, which, in turn, leads to enhanced fiber sparing and sprouting. In particular, the reduction of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) in the superficial dorsal horn--an important descending brainstem system in the modulation of pain--was blocked with fibronectin treatment. The researchers suggest that treatment of spinal cord injury (SCI) with fibronectin preserves sensory regulation and prevents the development of chronic allodynia, providing a potential therapeutic intervention to treat persistent pain. The study was published in the December 2011 issue of the Journal of Neurotrauma.

“While the exact mechanisms underlying the possible fibronectin connection to the relief of chronic pain are not clear yet, results show that fibronectin not only maintained the integrity of the blood-spinal cord barrier but also suppressed the inflammatory response significantly over an eight-month period,” said lead author Ching-Yi Lin, PhD, of the department of neurosciences at the Cleveland clinic. “Perhaps this will signal a change in pain management after spinal cord injury.”

Fibronectin supports the survival, growth, and communication of neurons in the brain and spinal cord. It plays a major role in cell adhesion, growth, migration, and differentiation, and it is important for processes such as wound healing and embryonic development. Altered fibronectin expression, degradation, and organization have been associated with a number of pathologies, including cancer and fibrosis.

Related Links:
Cleveland Clinic
Case Western Reserve University