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A girl who cannot feel pain has enabled scientists to find a gene mutation that influences how we feel pain. The German researchers hope that the finding may lead to the creation of new painkillers that work by blocking pain signals.
The scientists compared the gene sequence of the girl, who has congenital insensitivity to pain, with the gene sequences of her parents who do not have the condition.
The girl's condition means that she can feel touch but not pain and, as a result, is liable to burn herself - because she cannot tell if something is too hot to touch - and suffer frequent injuries.
This comparison allowed Dr Ingo Kurth, at Jena University Hospital in Germany, to find a mutation in the SCN11A gene reports.
The gene influences the creation of channels on pain-sensing neurones.
Ions pass along these channels causing the development of electrical nerve impulses that go to the brain.
These nerve impulses cause the brain to register pain.
The mutation in the girl’s SCN11A gene means that the charge neurones need to transmit an electrical impulse cannot build up.
As a result, the body cannot detect pain.
To ensure that their suspicions were correct, the researchers bred mice with the mutated SCN11A gene and then tested their ability to detect pain.They found that these animals were much more likely to suffer injuries than ordinary mice are, suggesting that they are also unable to feel pain.
These mice were also much slower to react to pain when their tails were exposed to a hot light.
The scientists have already begun work on a drug that blocks the SCN11A channel.
The German researchers hope that the finding may lead to the creation of new painkillers that work by blocking pain signals
‘This is a cracking paper, and great science,’ Professor Geoffrey Woods of the University of Cambridge told New Scientist.
‘It's completely unexpected and not what people had been looking for,’ he added.
Congenital insensitivity to pain (CIP) is a rare condition that means a person cannot feel pain.
People with the condition are able to feel touch but cannot feel pain.
They often suffer unnoticed infections and injuries which can become serious as they are not treated.
The condition can be caused by a gene mutation but it can also be caused by the brain over-producing endorphins.
WHAT IS CONGENITAL INSENSITIVITY TO PAIN?
Congenital insensitivity to pain (CIP) is a rare condition that means a person cannot feel pain.
People with the condition are able to feel touch and temperature but cannot feel pain.
They often suffer unnoticed infections and injuries which can become serious as they are not treated.
The condition can be caused by a gene mutation but it can also be caused by the brain over-producing endorphins.
CIP is so rare that only about 20 cases have been reported in scientific literature.
People with the condition are able to feel touch and temperature but cannot feel pain.
They often suffer unnoticed infections and injuries which can become serious as they are not treated.
The condition can be caused by a gene mutation but it can also be caused by the brain over-producing endorphins.
CIP is so rare that only about 20 cases have been reported in scientific literature.
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