Coronary artery disease usually presents with chest pain resulting from cardiac muscle being starved of blood and oxygen due to narrowings in the coronary arteries supplying the heart muscle (myocardial ischaemia). The common test to detect this state is the electrocardiogram or ECG which often shows changes known as ST segment shifts. This project follows earlier work and will explain why the ST changes occur and also will determine how to maximize the information from the ECG so that clinician ....Coronary artery disease usually presents with chest pain resulting from cardiac muscle being starved of blood and oxygen due to narrowings in the coronary arteries supplying the heart muscle (myocardial ischaemia). The common test to detect this state is the electrocardiogram or ECG which often shows changes known as ST segment shifts. This project follows earlier work and will explain why the ST changes occur and also will determine how to maximize the information from the ECG so that clinicians are better able to predict the site, size and timing of the ischaemia from the ECG. The proposal will use detailed measurement of the electric field around the ischaemic region to build up the three dimensional electric field from which the explanation as to why the body surface patterns occur will be gleaned by computer modelling. This project will extend the field measurement back into the myocardium using intramyocardial electrodes with a spacing of 2 mm. This project will result in better analysis of the ECG in patients with chest pain, better practice in selecting patients for admission or early treatment and could result in substantial savings to the health system from reduced admissions, more appropriate investigation and treatment. A better diagnosis on one patient daily in Austarlia alone would be expected to save one million dollars in the year.Read moreRead less
Gastrointestinal Sensory Function In Normal And Diseased States
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$691,026.00
Summary
Chronic pain and discomfort from the digestive system is a major health care issue world-wide. There is currently no effective treatment for these problems, which often have no apparent organic cause. Lack of treatment is due to a lack of understanding about how sensations are transmitted from the digestive system to the brain. Our research group has unique and powerful techniques that allow us to probe the basic mechanisms of sensory function, and make rapid progress towards finding drugs that ....Chronic pain and discomfort from the digestive system is a major health care issue world-wide. There is currently no effective treatment for these problems, which often have no apparent organic cause. Lack of treatment is due to a lack of understanding about how sensations are transmitted from the digestive system to the brain. Our research group has unique and powerful techniques that allow us to probe the basic mechanisms of sensory function, and make rapid progress towards finding drugs that reduce specific types of sensory signals from the gut. We shall investigate sensory mechanisms in the upper and lower regions of the gut, where symptoms are most prevalent in diseases such as non-cardiac chest pain, functional dyspepsia and irritable bowel syndrome. Six aspects of sensory nerve endings in the gut are to be investigated: 1. The grouping of endings into functional classes (similar to touch or pressure receptors in skin) 2. How endings respond to chemicals and hormones found in the gut 3. How currently available drugs may be useful in reducing sensitivity 4. The mechanisms by which inflammation affects sensitivity 5. How nerve growth factors may trigger changes in sensitivity 6. How pores or channels in nerve endings determine their functionRead moreRead less
I am a clinical scientist translating basic science findings into clinical science questions and answers that impart better understanding and management of pain and painful disease.
Adouble-blind Placebo Contorolled Study Of Subcutaneous Ketamine In The Management Of Cancer Pain
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$50,000.00
Summary
Palliative care teams are studying an anaesthetic, ketamine, used at low doses for cancer pain which is not responsive to opioid drugs. Clinical experience suggests ketamine may help in neuropathic pain, which is due to nerve damage and is common in cancer. The study involves five days of treatment at three doses of ketamine, to see how well pain is controlled on each dose. The highest dose given will be that which gives good pain control. The study compares ketamine with a placebo, and patients ....Palliative care teams are studying an anaesthetic, ketamine, used at low doses for cancer pain which is not responsive to opioid drugs. Clinical experience suggests ketamine may help in neuropathic pain, which is due to nerve damage and is common in cancer. The study involves five days of treatment at three doses of ketamine, to see how well pain is controlled on each dose. The highest dose given will be that which gives good pain control. The study compares ketamine with a placebo, and patients keep on their usual pain medicines. Participants are randomised to have ketamine or the placebo. The study looks at pain control, quality of life, ketamine side effects, and change in need for usual pain medicines. This is the first national clinical study of a new palliative care research network, the Palliative Care Clinical Trials Collaborative (PaCCSC). It is hoped that if ketamine is proven safe and effective in difficult cancer pain, it will be more easily available for cancer patients.Read moreRead less
Disorders of pain sensation due to nerve damage are common, debilitating and difficult to treat. Nerve damage often results in increased sensitivity to painful stimuli and the perception of innocuous stimuli as painful; it may also result in spontaneous pain. Pain is one of the commonest clinical problems, and yet it is often accepted or taken for granted. The outcome of this work will be an increased understanding of the way in which nerve injury leads to spontaneous pain and increased sensitiv ....Disorders of pain sensation due to nerve damage are common, debilitating and difficult to treat. Nerve damage often results in increased sensitivity to painful stimuli and the perception of innocuous stimuli as painful; it may also result in spontaneous pain. Pain is one of the commonest clinical problems, and yet it is often accepted or taken for granted. The outcome of this work will be an increased understanding of the way in which nerve injury leads to spontaneous pain and increased sensitivity to painful stimuli. This will lead in turn to the development of more effective treatments for neuropathic pain.Read moreRead less
The Analgesic Evaluation Of Novel Natural Products From The Australian Plant Barringtonia Acutangula
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$174,500.00
Summary
This project aims to evaluate the analgesic activity of several novel natural products that have been isolated from the Australian plant Barringtonia acutangula. An Australian Aboriginal tribe have been known to use B. acutangula aqueous bark extracts for its analgesic properties. Griffith University researchers have confirmed this biological activity in the crude aqueous bark extract. A large scale extraction and isolation process will obtain the novel compounds in sufficient quantities that wi ....This project aims to evaluate the analgesic activity of several novel natural products that have been isolated from the Australian plant Barringtonia acutangula. An Australian Aboriginal tribe have been known to use B. acutangula aqueous bark extracts for its analgesic properties. Griffith University researchers have confirmed this biological activity in the crude aqueous bark extract. A large scale extraction and isolation process will obtain the novel compounds in sufficient quantities that will allow for their pharmacological evaluation as potential analgesic drugs.Read moreRead less
Mechanisms Of Endogenous Cannabinoid Mediated Analgesia Within The Midbrain
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$518,820.00
Summary
While opioid analgesics such as morphine are the most important drugs used to treat moderate to severe pain, their usefulness is limited by side effects such as tolerance and respiratory depression. In addition, clinically relevant neuropathic chronic pain syndromes (caused by nervous system damage) are relatively resistant to opioids. Animal studies have shown that the active ingredient of the plant Cannabis sativa, THC, and a number of synthetic cannabinoids are analgesic in acute pain models, ....While opioid analgesics such as morphine are the most important drugs used to treat moderate to severe pain, their usefulness is limited by side effects such as tolerance and respiratory depression. In addition, clinically relevant neuropathic chronic pain syndromes (caused by nervous system damage) are relatively resistant to opioids. Animal studies have shown that the active ingredient of the plant Cannabis sativa, THC, and a number of synthetic cannabinoids are analgesic in acute pain models, and interestingly, in chronic neuropathic pain models. Unfortunately, cannabinoid also produce a spectrum of adverse side-effects. Administered cannabinoids such as THC produce their physiological effects by mimicking the actions of the body's own cannabinoids (endocannabinoids) by activating cell-surface proteins, called cannabinoid receptors. The endocannabinoid neurotransmitter system is emerging as a potential therapeutic target. For example, it has recently been shown that analgesia induced by physiological stressors is partly mediated by endocannabinoids within the brain. In addition, novel endocannabinoid breakdown inhibitors have some efficacy in animal models of anxiety and chronic pain. Several brain regions are known to play a pivotal role in the analgesic actions of exogenous and endogenous cannabinoids. In previous studies I have identified the cellular mechanisms by which exogenously applied opioids and cannabinoids produce their analgesic effects in single brain cells. However, the mechanisms of endocannabinoid actions within these brain regions are unknown. The proposed study will determine the cellular actions of endogenously released cannabinoids in normal animals and in chronic pain states. Parallel studies will examine the effect of modulation of the endocannabinoid system in animal models of pain. These techniques have the potential to identify novel endocannabinoid analgesic pharmacotherapies with enhanced efficacy and reduced side effects.Read moreRead less