Preclinical Pharmacological Approaches in Drug Discovery for Chronic Pain.

Preclinical Pharmacological Approaches in Drug Discovery for Chronic Pain. Adv Pharmacol. 2016;75:303-23 Authors: Whiteside GT, Pomonis JD, Kennedy JD Abstract In recent years, animal behavioral models, particularly those used in pain research, have been increasingly scrutinized and criticized for their role in the poor translation of novel pharmacotherapies for chronic pain. This chapter addresses the use of animal models of pain used in drug discovery research. It highlights how, when, and why animal models of pain are used as one of the many experimental tools used to gain better understanding of target mechanisms and rank-order compounds in the iterative process of establishing structure-activity relationship. Together, these models help create an "analgesic signature" for a compound and inform the indications most likely to yield success in clinical trials. In addition, the authors discuss some often underappreciated aspects of currently used (traditional) animal models of pain, including simply applying basic pharmacological principles to study design and data interpretation as well as consideration of efficacy alongside side effect measures as part of the overall conclusion of efficacy. This is provided to add perspective regarding current efforts to develop new models and endpoints both in rodents and in larger animal species as well as assess cognitive and/or affective aspects of pain. Finally, the authors suggest ways in wh...
Source: Advances in Pharmacology - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Authors: Tags: Adv Pharmacol Source Type: research