Scientists at Washington University have made a major breakthrough in understanding the pathway used by the body to communicate an itching sensation. And their conclusions could form the basis for a whole new approach to developing drugs that can control the most severe forms of itching.
For years experts believed that itching was a low-level type of pain, which would be communicated through the body in the same way. That was wrong. The team discovered specific neurons that are required for the body to feel an itch, and they were able to knock out the sensation in mice. Two years ago the same group of researchers identified the GRPR 'itch gene.' Killing off the cells that host the gene in the new research project stopped the itching, but let the animals continue to sense pain.
"We have shown that particular neurons are critical for the itching sensation but not for pain, which means those cells may contain several itch-specific receptors or signaling molecules that can be explored or identified as targets for future treatment or management of chronic itching," says Dr. Zhou-Feng Chen.
- read the article from the BBC