Researchers have identified a potential new pathway that could help ‘recharge’ damaged nerves, offering hope for improved treatments for chronic pain conditions.
For millions of people who suffer from chronic nerve pain, even the gentlest touch can feel painful. A team of researchers from Duke University discovered that damaged nerves can be revived by supplying them with healthy mitochondria, the tiny energy producers inside cells.
In early-stage studies, scientists found that certain cellular signals can help restore nerve function after an injury, potentially reducing abnormal pain signals sent to the brain. The findings suggest that nerves, once thought to have very limited repair capacity, may be more adaptable than previously thought.
Chronic pain affects hundreds of millions of people worldwide and is often caused by nerve damage that leads to long-term hypersensitivity. Current treatments focus primarily on pain relief rather than repairing the underlying nerve damage.
Scientists have long believed that this type of pain can begin when mitochondria, the tiny structures that produce energy in cells, stop working properly in damaged nerves.
The research team used both human tissue and mouse models to test whether replenishing mitochondria could help repair damaged nerve cells.
Rather than simply blocking pain signals, the researchers believe the approach could address one of the underlying causes of chronic nerve pain by restoring the energy supply that nerve cells need to function properly. This treatment technique remarkably reduced pain associated with diabetic neuropathy and chemotherapy-related nerve damage.
The study’s senior author, Ru-Rong Ji, PhD, director of the Center for Translational Pain Medicine in the Department of Anesthesiology at Duke School of Medicine, said, “By giving damaged nerves new mitochondria or helping them make more of their own, we can reduce inflammation and support healing.
In some cases, pain relief lasted up to 48 hours.
Scientists are increasingly viewing this process as a natural support system that may play a role in conditions ranging from obesity and cancer to stroke and chronic pain.
The researchers say more studies are still needed, including high-resolution imaging, to better understand how exactly the nanotubes deliver mitochondria into living nerve tissue.
While the main findings of the study were published in the journal Nature.
