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Pain Management 2016
October 03-04, 2016
Volume 5, Issue 5(Suppl) J Pain Relief
ISSN: 2167-0846 JPAR, an open access journal
conferenceseries .com
October 03-04, 2016 Vancouver, Canada
International Conference on
Pain Research & Management
J Pain Relief 2016, 5:5(Suppl)
Novel mechanism-based targets for pain treatment
Kalpna Gupta
University of Minnesota, USA
Mast cells are tissue resident granulocytes known for their role in itch and anaphylaxis. We examined the contribution of
mast cell activation in chronic and acute pain. We used homozygous BERK sickle mice that have constitutive chronic
pain and hypoxia/re-oxygenation evoked acute pain. These mice mimic the features of clinical sickle cell disease (SCD), which
is accompanied by severe chronic pain and recurrent episodes of acute pain. We found that mast cell degranulation/activation
is significantly higher in the skin of sickle mice as compared to controls. This increased mast cell activation contributes to
promoting neurogenic inflammation and nociceptor activation via the release of tryptase and substance P in the skin and
dorsal root ganglion. Inhibition of mast cells with imatinib in vivo, led to a significant decrease in the release of cytokines from
skin biopsies ex-vivo. Importantly, it led to a correlative decrease between GMCSF and white blood cell counts in sickle mice.
Mast cell deletion in sickle mice as well as pharmacologic treatment with imatinib led to a decrease in tonic and hypoxia/re-
oxygenation evoked acute hyperalgesia in sickle mice. Mast cell stabilizer cromolyn sodium reduced chronic hyperalgesia and
improved the outcome of relatively lower dose of morphine, which is otherwise ineffective. We conclude that mast cells provide
a druggable target to ameliorate sickle pathophysiology and pain.
G-RMPP: Gait retraining as management for patellofemoral pain syndrome
Jenevieve Roper
California State University, USA
Gait retraining is a newly researched method for management of patellofemoral pain (PFP). Patellofemoral pain, more
commonly known as anterior knee pain, is a common running ailment that typically affects more women than men.
Although it affects many individuals, the cause is relatively unclear. Researchers agree that the cause is likely multifactorial
with several perturbations leading to the development of PFP. Of those, it appears that patellofemoral joint stress (PFS) has a
strong association with PFP. Therefore, a reduction in PFS is thought to lead to reduced PFP. Several interventions have been
investigated with their ability to reduce PFP. Most of this research focused on hip kinetics and kinematics, showing some
success in reducing PFP. However, a recent study indicated that perturbations at the hip may be a compensatory mechanism
that individuals develop to manage the pain and symptoms. New research on foot strike patterns have shown that rear-foot
strike running is associated with greater PFS compared to forefoot strike running. Subsequently, it was demonstrated that a
significant reduction in PFP occurs as a result of switching foot strike patterns in runners affected by PFP. Specifically, changing
from rear-foot strike running to fore-foot strike running has led to reductions in PFS, patellofemoral contact force, knee
abduction and PFP, suggesting that it is an effective intervention for management of PFP. It is worth noting that the change in
foot strike pattern increased Achilles tendon force, which potentially increases the risk of injury at the ankle.