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Updated: Jun 24, 2025

Determining Pain Detection and Tolerance Thresholds Using an Integrated, Multi-Modal Pain Task Battery
Published on: April 14, 2016
Biased signalling in analgesic research and development
Alexandra Conibear1, Chris P Bailey2, Eamonn Kelly1
1School of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience, Biomedical Sciences Building, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TD, UK.
Abstract:
Ligand bias offers a novel means to improve the therapeutic profile of drugs. With regard to G protein-coupled receptors involved in analgesia, it could be advantageous to develop such drugs if the analgesic effect is mediated by a different cellular signalling pathway than the adverse effects associated with the drug. Whilst this has been explored over a number of years for the μ receptor, it remains unclear whether this approach offers significant benefit for the treatment of pain. Nevertheless, the development of biased ligands at other G protein-coupled receptors in the CNS does offer some promise for the development of novel analgesic drugs in the future. Here we summarise and discuss the recent evidence to support this.
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