HSV vector-mediated modification of primary nociceptor afferents: an approach to inhibit chronic pain

Chronic pain is a serious medical condition with millions of sufferers for whom long-term therapies are either lacking or inadequate. Here we review the use of herpes simplex virus vectors as therapeutic tools to treat chronic pain by gene therapy. We describe an approach to inhibit chronic pain signaling whereby vector-mediated genes transferred to sensory nerves will modify the primary afferent nociceptor to prevent pain signaling to second-order nerves in the spinal cord. This approach may be used to reverse the chronic pain state of the nociceptor and could affect downstream pain-related changes in the central nervous system.