About this Research Topic
Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) accounts in the United States for over $450 million yearly in healthcare costs. SCD is an inherited hemoglobinopathy involving an abnormal form of hemoglobin, leading to the formation of rigid, sickled-shaped red blood cells that can block capillaries and facilitate inadequate oxygen transport. The symptoms associated with SCD include vessel blockage, stroke, anemia, inflammation, and extreme pain. Pain in SCD has been difficult to properly manage and is associated with significant morbidity and increased mortality. The complex pathobiology of SCD pain remains to be elucidated, impeding progress toward the development of effective pain management strategies. Current treatments can also be cost prohibitive and have associated risk factors both of which necessitate the development of novel target systems, phytomedicines and nutraceuticals for management of pain in SCD.
The goal of this Research Topic is to curate a collection of papers that discuss the pathobiology of SCD pain and multidisciplinary advances in sickle cell pain management. This collection of papers will highlight novel approaches using current treatments and complementary and alternative pain management therapies using phytomedicines and nutraceuticals. These insights will lead to a better understanding of the pathobiology of SCD pain and the development of novel, cost-effective SCD pain management and treatment strategies.
We welcome the submission of manuscripts including, but not limited to, the following topics:
1. Animal models of SCD pain (e.g., vaso-occlusion, RBC defects, blood flow changes, hyperhemolysis, vascular tone dysregulation, oxidations, inflammation, cell activation and adhesion, ischemia, reperfusion) and pharmacological characterization using clinically available analgesic agents to better understand the role of different interacting factors in the complexity of SCD
2. New pathobiological mechanisms related to animal models of SCD pain due to acute and chronic complications
3. Novel targets identified for use in drug research and development aimed at producing efficacious, safe, and cost-effective phytomedicines and nutraceutical analgesics for relief of pain in patients with SCD
The goal of this Research Topic is to curate a collection of papers that discuss the pathobiology of SCD pain and multidisciplinary advances in sickle cell pain management. This collection of papers will highlight novel approaches using current treatments and complementary and alternative pain management therapies using phytomedicines and nutraceuticals. These insights will lead to a better understanding of the pathobiology of SCD pain and the development of novel, cost-effective SCD pain management and treatment strategies.
We welcome the submission of manuscripts including, but not limited to, the following topics:
1. Animal models of SCD pain (e.g., vaso-occlusion, RBC defects, blood flow changes, hyperhemolysis, vascular tone dysregulation, oxidations, inflammation, cell activation and adhesion, ischemia, reperfusion) and pharmacological characterization using clinically available analgesic agents to better understand the role of different interacting factors in the complexity of SCD
2. New pathobiological mechanisms related to animal models of SCD pain due to acute and chronic complications
3. Novel targets identified for use in drug research and development aimed at producing efficacious, safe, and cost-effective phytomedicines and nutraceutical analgesics for relief of pain in patients with SCD
Keywords: animal models, Sickle Cell Disease, chronic pain, neuropathic pain, analgesic agents, phytomedicines, nutraceuticals
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
