Development and Validation of a Porcine Model of Spinal Cord Injury-Induced Neuropathic Pain

Grants and Contracts Details

Description

Abstract: Animal models are critical to the understanding of pain biology and development of effective therapeutics. To date, basic and translational research in pain has predominantly been done using rodent models. These models have substantially advanced the field of pain research, and their utility for drug discovery has been well-documented. However, limitations remain regarding the value of rodent models to accurately predict analgesic efficacy in human clinical populations, which may be due in part to species differences. Additional models are needed to address gaps for pain conditions that cannot or have not been adequately modeled in rodents due to, for example, anatomical considerations, species-specific pharmacology, the discordant time course of disease progression, or lack of diversity of experienced symptoms often associated with human pain conditions. Non-rodent mammalian models such as swine have similarities to humans in genetics, anatomy, size, metabolism, and physiology that may be advantageous for their recapitulation of certain disease phenotypes. These model systems also present unique translational opportunities for developing and testing novel devices and pain therapies for humans. The goal of this proposal is to develop, characterize, and rigorously validate a pig model of spinal cord injury (SCI) pain including associated outcome measures and/or endpoints to significantly advance translational research for effective pain management. Regarding associative measures, intraspinal inflammation is a well-established hallmark of SCI pain. Additional established cellular targets for analgesic therapies include intraspinal axonal reorganization and sprouting with SCI-increasing calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) sprouting into the dorsal horn in humans. We will use morphological and anatomical quantification techniques to evaluate inflammatory responses and other indicators of central sensitization in the pig spinal cord in response to analgesic therapies.
StatusActive
Effective start/end date9/21/238/31/26

Funding

  • Emory University: $344,246.00

Fingerprint

Explore the research topics touched on by this project. These labels are generated based on the underlying awards/grants. Together they form a unique fingerprint.