Pain is a complex sensation involving the perception and transduction of diverse environmental pain stimuli with cognitive and emotional processing by the central nervous system. It can manifest as acute or chronic pain. Pain is controlled by a series of enzymes and receptors, implicated in a variety of interconnected mechanisms and pathways. In fact, several studies have shown the cannabinoid receptor 1 and the transient receptor potential vanilloid channel 1 to be new players in modulating the sophisticated pain transduction system at the central level. At the peripheral level, the perception of pain involves cyclooxygenases and fatty acid amide hydrolase, as recent studies demonstrate. This Minireview describes the physiological aspects of the receptors and enzymes mentioned above and focuses on the consideration of dual mechanisms as a new therapeutic approach in the treatment of pain.
Keywords: drug discovery; dual inhibitors; enzymes; pain treatment; receptors.
© 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.