Medicine has positive effect on nerve pain disorder
Researchers at Maastricht UMC+ have shown that the medicine lacosamide has a positive effect on patients with small fibre neuropathy, a disorder in which people experience continuous pain. The medicine reduces pain, ensures a better night’s sleep and has a positive effect on overall well-being. These results were previously published in the scientific journal Brain . Bianca de Greef also obtained her PhD on research into this nerve disorder.
Small fibre neuropathy is characterised by constant, burning or tingling pain. However, the sensation can vary from patient to patient and express itself differently. The pain is caused by the malfunctioning of the small nerve fibres. The causes can vary from a hereditary disorder to diabetes or as a side effect of chemotherapy. To date, however, there is no effective treatment for the disorder, which brings 450 people to the Maastricht University Medical Centre every year.
Overactive
Scientists in Maastricht have already shown in previous studies that the pain is related to the overactivity of so-called sodium channels in the nerve cells. With a ‘normal’ pain sensation, those channels become activated to pass on the pain signal to the brain. In patients with small fibre neuropathy, however, that signal is constantly being sent, resulting in persistent pain. The researchers thought that blocking the overactive channels might be the key to successful treatment. Lacosamide is a medicine that is normally used to treat epilepsy and has exactly that effect.
Positive effect
For the study, 24 patients with a hereditary form of small fibre neuropathy were divided into two groups. They were treated for eight weeks. One group started taking lacosamide, followed by a placebo (a pill without any active ingredients). With the other group, it was exactly the other way around. In nearly 60 per cent of patients, the pain had decreased with intake of the medicine (21 per cent with placebo). In addition, a third of the patients indicated that they experienced improved overall well-being (only 4 percent with the placebo). Furthermore, sleeping at night also improved. All in all, the medicine therefore has a demonstrably positive effect.
Other patients
Although the drug has now been tested in a specific group of patients with small fibre neuropathy (namely, a hereditary version), it is expected that other groups may also benefit. “After all, something is going wrong with the sodium channels in all of these patients”, says PhD graduate De Greef. “Lacosamide has a specific effect on this. It is therefore to be expected that the medicine will have a positive effect on other patients, but we will first have to find that out.”
The study of the effect of lacosamide in small fibre neuropathy was made possible with support from the Prinses Beatrix Spierfonds.
Source: MUMC+
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