NYU Langone Health researchers identified a pain receptor that could be used to develop safer painkillers.

In the September study, a collaboration between the NYU Pain Research Center and the Department of Health Science at the University of Florence, researchers found that the pain receptor known as EP2 causes pain without inflammation. The discovery could lead to the development of alternatives to traditional painkillers like ibuprofen and naproxen, which relieve pain at the expense of disrupting the healing process.

“Treatment with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs delays the recovery of the pathological condition,” Pierangelo Geppetti, adjunct professor at the Pain Research Center and professor emeritus at the University of Florence, told WSN. “Silencing the EP2 receptor in Schwann cells is able to get rid of the pain without delaying the recovery.”

Researchers injected test subject mice with prostaglandin E2 — a chemical that triggers EP2 pain receptors in the nervous system’s Schwann cells, which are commonly related to migraines.

They observed that the mice experienced inflammation without pain when pressure was applied to areas that would normally cause both effects.  

While painkiller drugs have historically targeted the EP4 receptor responsible for inflammatory pain responses, the new study’s findings could kickstart further research on the functionality of EP2. Nigel Bunnett — chair of the department of molecular pathology at the NYU College of Dentistry — told WSN that the team now aims to develop a treatment for humans, given that current understanding of EP2 is largely based on animal testing. 

“It would have to undergo safety and efficacy studies,” Steve Davidson, associate director at NYU Pain Research Center said in an interview with WSN. “But those are a lot more likely to happen now that we understand how it works, what it binds to, and in what circumstances it’s effective.”

Contact Zachary Karp at [email protected].