» Articles » PMID: 33711512

Pain in Sickle Cell Disease: Current and Potential Translational Therapies

Overview
Journal Transl Res
Publisher Elsevier
Specialty Pathology
Date 2021 Mar 12
PMID 33711512
Citations 9
Authors
Affiliations
Soon will be listed here.
Abstract

Pain is a major comorbidity of sickle cell disease (SCD). Patients with SCD may suffer from both acute and chronic pain. Acute pain is caused by recurrent and unpredictable episodes of vaso-occlusive crises (VOC), whereas the exact etiology of chronic pain is still unknown. Opioids are the mainstay for pain treatment, but the opioid epidemic has significantly altered access to prescription opioids and has brought concerns over their long-term use into the forefront, which have negatively impacted the treatment of sickle pain. Opioids remain potent analgesics but growing opioid-phobia has led to the realization of an unmet need to develop nonopioid therapies that can provide relief for severe sickle pain. This realization has contributed to the approval of 3 different drugs by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of SCD, particularly to reduce VOC and/or have an impact on the pathobiology of SCD. In this review, we outline the challenges and need for validation of side-effects of opioids and provide an update on the development of mechanism-based translational therapies, specifically targeting pain in SCD.

Citing Articles

Digital cognitive behavioral therapy vs education for pain in adults with sickle cell disease.

Jonassaint C, Lalama C, Carroll C, Badawy S, Hamm M, Stinson J Blood Adv. 2024; 8(24):6257-6266.

PMID: 39374587 PMC: 11699089. DOI: 10.1182/bloodadvances.2024013861.


Unmet Need: Mechanistic and Translational Studies of Sickle Cell Disease Pain as a Whole-Person Health Challenge.

Belfer I, Chen W, Weber W, Edwards E, Langevin H J Pain. 2024; 25(10):104603.

PMID: 38878809 PMC: 11402567. DOI: 10.1016/j.jpain.2024.104603.


The Associations Between Opioid Use Disorder and Healthcare-Related Outcomes in Vaso-occlusive Crisis.

Sanni A, Goble S, Gilbertson D, Johnson D, Linzer M J Gen Intern Med. 2024; 39(9):1666-1672.

PMID: 38499723 PMC: 11254892. DOI: 10.1007/s11606-024-08717-7.


Inflammation and autoimmunity are interrelated in patients with sickle cell disease at a steady-state condition: implications for vaso-occlusive crisis, pain, and sensory sensitivity.

Li W, Pucka A, Debats C, Reyes B, Syed F, OBrien A Front Immunol. 2024; 15:1288187.

PMID: 38361924 PMC: 10867278. DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1288187.


Differential clinical characteristics across traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) Syndromes in patients with sickle cell disease.

Wang Y, Wang D, Pucka A, OBrien A, Harte S, Harris R Front Pain Res (Lausanne). 2024; 4:1233293.

PMID: 38249565 PMC: 10796810. DOI: 10.3389/fpain.2023.1233293.


References
1.
Carlton S . Localization of CaMKIIalpha in rat primary sensory neurons: increase in inflammation. Brain Res. 2002; 947(2):252-9. DOI: 10.1016/s0006-8993(02)02932-3. View

2.
Blyden G, Bridges K, Bronte L . Case series of patients with severe sickle cell disease treated with voxelotor (GBT440) by compassionate access. Am J Hematol. 2018; . DOI: 10.1002/ajh.25139. View

3.
Noomuna P, Risinger M, Zhou S, Seu K, Man Y, An R . Inhibition of Band 3 tyrosine phosphorylation: a new mechanism for treatment of sickle cell disease. Br J Haematol. 2020; 190(4):599-609. PMC: 7606656. DOI: 10.1111/bjh.16671. View

4.
Belcher J, Chen C, Nguyen J, Milbauer L, Abdulla F, Alayash A . Heme triggers TLR4 signaling leading to endothelial cell activation and vaso-occlusion in murine sickle cell disease. Blood. 2013; 123(3):377-90. PMC: 3894494. DOI: 10.1182/blood-2013-04-495887. View

5.
Lopez-Bellido R, Puig S, Huang P, Tsai C, Turner H, Galko M . Growth Factor Signaling Regulates Mechanical Nociception in Flies and Vertebrates. J Neurosci. 2019; 39(30):6012-6030. PMC: 6650988. DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2950-18.2019. View