Immunomodulatory Therapy for Neuropathic Pain

Principal Investigator Program DirectorLastFirstMiddleRidong Chen Project SummaryNeuropathic pain can be difficult to treat with onlyof patients achieving meaningfulandgtpain reliefCurrent therapiese ggabapentinmainly address symptoms by focusing on blocking neurotransmission in the pain pathway with limited efficacypotentially severe side effects and narrow therapeutic indexThusnovel therapies are needed to safely manage symptoms and also target the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms that will improve the functional status and life quality of affected patientsInterleukinILis the key cytokine for the generationsurvivaland function of Treg by direct binding to its high affinity receptor that attenuates neuropathic painHoweverseveral drawbacks exist for current low dose rILtherapyincluding a short half lifepropensity to in vitro aggregation causing adverse local reaction at injection sitesand potentially narrow therapeutic windowWe have designed a proprietary ILbased therapy that will enable selective stimulation of Tregs with an extended half lifeminimal in vitro aggregationand broad therapeutic windowIn the proposed Phase I SBIR studywe will evaluate the dose response of the drug candidate in the rat model of CCI neuropathyWe also will determine the potential side effects and toxicity using the functional observational battery assays in healthy ratsSpecific AimTo determine whether rat ILanalog will abrogate neuropathic pain in the CCI model in rats without behavioral side effects or toxicityThe long term goal is to develop the drug candidate as a safe and disease modifying analgesic therapyWeekly dosing will provide sustained pain relief for neuropathic pain patients without significant side effectstolerance or addiction Principal Investigator Program DirectorLastFirstMiddleRidong Chen Narrative We will determine whether induction of regulatory T cells with an optimized ILanalog will abrogate neuropathic pain without behavioral side effects in the well established animal model