It is always challenging to develop a new drug to treat chronic pain, especially neuropathic pain. There have been many cases of treatments that showed promise in relieving neuropathic pain in animal models but failed to produce the same results in clinical trials, such as certain NMDA receptor antagonists, TRPV1 antagonists, and 5TH3 antagonists. Bridging the gap between animal preclinical trials and clinical outcomes in humans would significantly reduce the cost of clinical trials for pain medication and allow more patients to have access to potential new pain treatments.

This topic aims to focus on research in the following areas:

1. Preclinical efficacy vs. clinical outcomes: Address the discrepancies between the preclinical efficacy of potential neuropathic pain treatments and the disappointing clinical outcomes in human trials. Analyze the biological and mechanistic differences between animal models and human patients and discuss strategies to improve the success rate of translating preclinical findings into clinical benefits.

2. Innovative animal models: Explore the development and application of innovative animal models to advance our understanding of neuropathic pain mechanisms. Discuss the importance of creating models that better mimic the complexity and etiologies of neuropathic pain observed in humans.

3. Patient Heterogeneity: Examine the impact of patient heterogeneity in neuropathic pain research and clinical trials. Consider how diverse genetics, etiologies, and comorbidities affect the effectiveness of treatments and explore the potential role of personalized medicine in tailoring treatments to individual patient profiles.

This topic will enable us to address how to more effectively bridge the gap in drug development between preclinical and clinical stages. It emphasizes the need for a holistic approach to neuropathic pain research that integrates laboratory research with clinical practice to improve patient outcomes.

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Frontiers in Pain Research

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