Abstract
The idea of selectively targeting nociceptive transmission at the level of the peripheral nervous system is attractive from multiple perspectives, particularly the potential lack of non-specific (non-targeted) CNS side effects. Out of the multiple TRP channels involved in nociception, TRPV1 is a strong candidate based on its biophysical conductance properties and its expression in inflammation-sensitive dorsal root ganglion neurons and their axons and central and peripheral nerve terminals. While TRPV1 antagonists have undergone extensive medicinal chemical and pharmacological investigation, for TRPV1 agonists nature has provided an optimized compound in RTX. RTX is not suitable for systemic administration, but it is highly adaptable to a variety of pain problems when used by local administration. This can include routes as diverse as subcutaneous, intraganglionic or intrathecal (CSF space around the spinal cord). The present review focuses on the molecular and preclinical animal experiments that form the underpinnings of our clinical trial of intrathecal RTX for pain in advanced cancer. As such this represents a new approach to pain control that emerges from a long line of research on capsaicin and other vanilloids, their physiological actions, and the molecular biology of the capsaicin receptor TRPV1.