Clinical Professor University of Maryland Baltimore Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Trigeminal neuropathic pains (TNP) are chronic orofacial pains that affect greatly the quality of life causing considerable functional and psychological disability. This maladaptive sensitization can arise secondary to neuroinflammation, tumors, infection, systemic and metabolic disorders and in the case of post-traumatic trigeminal neuropathic pain, from nerve injury secondary to dental procedures and facial trauma. The causative mechanisms of trigeminal sensitization remain poorly understood and consequently, the effective management of TNP often represents a challenge, since for the majority of patients with the current pharmacological options available, the pain is not controlled successfully, or intolerable side effects arise. In this talk we provide preliminary evidence from a pre-clinical model that activation of A3AR (adenosine A3 receptor) may represent a safe and novel target in TNP management.
Learning Objectives:
Recognize the great need for research in trigeminal neuropathic pain (TNP) to bring a better mechanistic understanding and with the hope to discover new potential, effective, and safer targets for management.
Identify peroxinitrite (PN) as a potent pro-nociceptive and nitroxidative molecule involved in different pain states including migraine and TNP.
Identify the activation of the adenosine A3 receptor (A3AR) as an exciting and potential novel target for the management of TNP.
.jpg "Marcela Romero-Reyes, DDS, PhD, FAHS photo")