Research, light-activated drugs to extinguish cancer pain

A light source placed in the center of pain in the brain, activating a specific drug, could relieve one of the most important problems for some patients with cancer: cancer pain. This was revealed by a study on optopharmacology, that is, the use of drugs that circulate in the body without producing any effect but which ‘wake up’ when illuminated by a light source, recently published in the ‘International journal of molecular sciences’. The research was conducted, on animal models, by the Neuropharmacology laboratory of the Irccs Neuromed in Pozzilli (Is) in collaboration with the Sapienza University of Rome, the Luigi Vanvitelli University of Naples and the Institute of Advanced Chemistry of Catalonia in Barcelona, ​​Spain. The drug tested regulates, in particular, the activity of the mGlu5 receptor, which belongs to the group of metabotropic glutamate receptors (crucial elements in the transmission of signals between the cells of the nervous system). The molecule is already known for its analgesic action, but its side effects prevent its use. “For this reason – explains Serena Notartomaso, biologist in the Neuromed Neuropharmacology laboratory and first author of the work, assignee of a young researchers project funded by the Ministry of Health – the idea is to ‘enclose’ the drug within a molecular structure capable of dissolving when exposed to a certain light frequency. In this way the molecule can circulate throughout the body without having any effect until it is illuminated, which we obtain through a LED implanted in a specific region of the brain, the thalamus, crucial in the transmission of painful impulses. At this point, in a few milliseconds, the drug will be activated, but exclusively in that point, without causing any effect on the rest of the organism “. Thanks to this technique, the researchers were able to obtain an analgesic action est remotely fast. In fact, even if what is called ‘background pain’ can be controlled by opioid drugs such as morphine, sometimes, in patients with an oncological diagnosis, there are rapid and sudden episodes of very intense suffering, called BTP (Breakthrough cancer pain). . “Of course – observes Ferdinando Nicoletti, full professor of pharmacology at Sapienza in Rome and head of the Neuromed neuropharmacology laboratory – further research will be needed before reaching a concrete application in humans. What we are thinking about is to implant LEDs. ‘inside the body, controllable from the outside. The patient could simply activate the drug through a switch “.